


The End of the World Won't Take My Brother Too.

by TheRedDeathBringer



Category: One Piece
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - Modern: No Powers, Alternate Universe - Zombie Apocalypse, Blood, Blood and Gore, Body Horror, Canon-Typical Violence, Grief, Horror, Illness, Minor Character Death, Multi, Nakamaship, Swearing, Trauma, Violence, car crash, epidemic, kinda not really drawn inspiration from quarantine, more adventure than romance, previous lawlu, tag more as it comes
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-04-29
Updated: 2020-06-26
Packaged: 2021-03-02 01:15:04
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 4
Words: 31,619
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23906758
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheRedDeathBringer/pseuds/TheRedDeathBringer
Summary: An illness has been brewing in Rogue Town for months and has finally mutated into it's final and most dangerous form.Follow the Straw Hats as they try to survive the chaos that consumes the world and save those that they love.Luffy will be damned if he lets the end of the world take his brother with it.
Relationships: Kaya/Usopp (One Piece), Monkey D. Luffy/Roronoa Zoro
Comments: 12
Kudos: 41





	1. Evacuate

A loud blaring siren is the last thing that anyone in Rogue Town wanted to hear at three in the morning, and yet, when the clock struck 3:40am, every single phone, television, and computer lit up and played that god-awful noise.

Luffy bolted upright, turning his head to his phone that was making the worst possible sound at three in the morning. Ace was already out of his bed, hair sticking up in every which way as he stomped into the living room with a death wish against a certain television.

Luffy rubbed the blurriness from his eyes, squinting at the bright screen.

Emergency Alert Issued: **EVACUATE NOTICE-- ROGUE TOWN-- MANDATORY**

He rubbed his eyes again, squinting harder at the small text.

**EVACUATE NOTICE**

**MANDATORY**

Luffy blew out some air, picking his ear.

“LUFFY,” Ace yelled from the living room, getting the younger brother begrudgingly up on his feet and out into the hall.

“Luffy, get your shit, I’m callin’ Pops,” Ace punctuated his sentence by pointing at their shared room and putting his cell phone up to his ear with the other.

Luffy yawned, rubbed his chest, and spun around to go back into the room. A lot of things were going on and he was just too tired to understand it all. So instead of doing as his brother asked, he slumped onto his bed, head hitting the pillow but his eyes shutting way before the impact. He grumbled, falling asleep almost instantly.

Ace’s fist crashed into the side of his younger brother’s head, instantly pulling Luffy out of his slumber as he rubbed his head, whining.

“I said pack your shit! Pops is telling us to get the hell outta here!” the elder yelled, pulling a backpack from under his bed and shoving the money he stuffed under his mattress.

The younger brother got up, his phone now blowing up with texts and alerts.

_Mugiwara Squad:_

_Sanji 3:42am: hey did you guys get the alert too?_

_Usopp 3:42am: OH MY GOD GUYS IM REALLY GUNNA SHIT MYSELF_   
_3:42am: GUYS._   
_3:43am: GUYS._   
_3:43am: IM SCARED_

_Nami 3:43am: guys i’m scared._

_Zoro 3:43am: should we all meet up somewhere?_

_Nami 3:43am: i’m going with my mom and sister._   
_3:44am: I don’t know where though._   
_3:44am: All i know is that traffic is going to be crazy._

_Sanji 3:44am: I’m gunna hole up with the old man and the boys._   
_3:44am: Nami, you’re welcome to stay here with your family! <3_

_Nami 3:44am: I’ll let them know. We’re trying to rush out of here ASAP._

_Zoro 3:45am: luffy. you and ace ok?_

Luffy rubbed his eyes and looked at Ace who was frantically putting things into bags.

“Ne….Ace?”

Ace didn’t stop, but continued to run around the room, “Luffy, you really do need to grab your shit. This is serious.”

Luffy pulled himself out of bed again, groaning all the while.

“Accceeeee...it’s the middle of the night...I don’t wanna be awake…”

Ace threw him a glare, getting the younger brother to pout and start collecting his things.

He opened up his backpack and started putting whatever his tired eyes could find into it uncaringly.

An opened bag of Cheetos. A couple of used napkins. Coins. One sock.

The elder brother took the bag from Luffy, dumping the useless things out.

“No, grab your baseball duffel, Luf. Your bat and cleats and stuff,” Ace shoved the bag back at him, gesturing to the closet.

“Go put your clothes and shit in here, and get your duffel. Grab anything you may need. Pops said it’s bad out there.”

Luffy nodded dumbly, heading to do exactly as Ace told him—but not without whining about it first.

“Ace...it’s so early...why are we going anywhere…”

The aforementioned brother groaned in frustration, zipping his bag up before grabbing his basketball bag, trying to find anything useful in it.

Ace’s phone buzzed a couple of times, but it was promptly ignored. There was too much he needed to grab and not enough help from his younger brother.

Luffy finally got the useless baseball gear out of the duffel and onto the floor, slowly lacing up his cleats. He squinted at the laces, trying to make bunny ears and tie them tight. But hand-eye coordination at this ungodly hour was just not going to happen. He struggled to get shoes on, and even standing was just a sad attempt at not falling asleep upright.

Ace slapped Luffy’s hat on his head, making the other whine softly.

“Luffy, Marco is coming by with his car. We’re gunna go meet him and get to Pop’s house, okay? Grab your phone and your charger.”

The elder brother turned the younger around, tying a cotton mask around his head to cover his mouth and nose. He made sure the knots were secure before handing him his priority worker pass, hoping they might find some mercy from officers if they got into any trouble.

Luffy rubbed his eyes, heading back to his bed to grab his things, putting the charger in his bag, and lifting the buzzing phone up to his ear as Ace went and grabbed some envelopes and stashed them in his bag.

“...mm..hello..?” The younger’s voice was deep with sleep.

“Jesus, Luf...you weren’t answerin’ yer phone.”

Luffy hiked his bag up, dragging his weighted bat through the hall and into the living room.

“Ne...Zoro...it’s like….almost 4...why are you even awake…” he whined, heading for the kitchen for a snack.

Zoro’s voice came as a sigh, “Luffy. It’s a mandatory evacuation notice.”

“But what are we even evacuating from?”

“No one is saying anything, so I don’t know. But we gotta leave...to somewhere.”

Luffy opened their fridge and reached for last night’s meal. “Where are you going?”

Zoro sighed, “dunno. You?”

Luffy grabbed a fork and pulled his mask up some so he could shove some of last night’s dinner into his face, “‘unno. Asche’s popsh housh or shum’thin’..”

“Damn. I gotta find a place to go.”

Luffy shrugged, wiping his face with the back of his hand before he brought the mask back over his mouth, “I can meet up with you and take you to the old man’s house.”

Ace quickly stood upright, shaking his head, “no, Luffy. We’re going together. It’s safe with Pops.”

Luffy scrunched his face in thought, “what if...instead we both go and get Zoro?”

The brother groaned loudly, pinching the bridge of his nose, “unless he can make it here before Marco can, we’re waiting here.”

Luffy whined, “Jesus, Ace...it’s not a big deal..I’ll get Zoro and I’ll meet at pop’s house.”

“No, Luffy. You’re staying with me,” came the adamant response, Ace poking his chest, “I can’t keep you safe unless you’re next to me.”

Luffy pushed the hand away, frowning at his older brother, Zoro long forgotten on the phone.

“I can take care of myself, Ace. Besides, Zoro doesn’t have a place to go! I can’t leave my friend like that.”

Ace shook his head again, “I don’t doubt that you can, but I need to make sure.” He put both hands on Luffy’s shoulders, meeting his eyes.

“I have to see if Sabo can come home. I can’t lose my brothers, Luf.. you have to stay with me..”

The younger brother felt the elder’s grip tighten on his shoulders. It felt desperate. But Luffy had to keep his friends by him.

“We need Marco to get him then. It’s on the way, isn’t it? Pops lives a little north of downtown. Why can’t we stop to grab him?”

Ace let go to wipe his forehead and grab a few more things.

“Ace?”

There was no answer.

Luffy blinked, realizing Zoro was still on the line, he brought it to his ear.

“You still there?”

“I was wondering what was going on. What’s happening?” The other asked, audibly moving about his apartment.

“We’re going to grab you on the way to Pop’s. We should be safe at his place. Marco is going to pick us up and we’ll swing by,” he decided.

A sigh of relief reached his ears, “alright. I’ll try to be outside as soon as you guys pull up.”

Luffy modded, “okay. I’ll let you know when we leave.”

“Alright. See you then.”

“See ya.”

And then he was off, trying to figure out what Ace was looking for. The apartment had been turned upside down in a matter of minutes, the elder brother running around trying to grab any important documents stashed in cabinets and drawers.

Ace’s phone buzzed again, this time he answered and sighed in relief as he heard the voice.

“Ace? You and Luffy okay??”

“Sabo, fuck... am I glad to hear your voice…”

Luffy scrambled over, standing on his toes to speak into the phone, “Sabo!”

“Hey Luf! Ace, are you guys okay? I heard about the evacuation. I’m trying to book a flight right now, but it doesn’t seem like there’s any flights open. Is there someplace we could meet at? I don’t wanna stay here if you guys are in danger.” Sabo’s voice was thick with worry.

Ace swiped a hand on the bottom of a drawer before he slammed it closed after he found nothing, “we’re fine. We’re heading to Pop’s. Marco is giving us a ride, and apparently we’re stopping to grab Luffy’s friend.”

“We’ll have to find another airport that’ll take us. Are you safe? Is there any virus where you are?” Ace spoke softly at his brother, trying to maintain his calm even if he was beyond worried.

“There is, but there’s no mandatory evacuations going on…maybe you guys should try to get a flight up here. There should be an airport that’ll take you. Or shit, there _should_ be a plane that’ll take you. D you think...Dragon would have a puddle jumper you guys could take?”

Ace scoffed, heading into the small dining area where a bunch of stuff was stacked along the wall. He moved around some old shoe boxes before finding the envelope he was looking for.

“As if. That ol’ bastard wouldn’t take his son anywhere. He hasn’t given us a penny since we started taking care of ‘im.”

Sabo sighed, “what about that shitty old gramps of ours?”

The suggestion made Ace pause. He watched his brother take a seat on their couch with a tired look on his face.

“...maybe. I’ll have to make some calls as soon as we make it to pop’s place. I swear, Sabo,” he zipped up his bag, “I’ll make it safe to you with Luffy. Just keep yourself safe in the meantime, okay?”

“Yeah. You better keep our stupid kid brother safe...and yourself too. I’m not losing any brother anytime soon.”

“I won’t die, don’t worry,” he laughed it off, standing up so he could peer out of their window, looking for Marco.

“I believe you. I’ll let you go, I know you must be busy. Love you guys, tell Luffy I said I love his dumbass too,” Sabo chuckled, albeit a bit forcefully.

“I will. We love you too, Sabo. Be safe.”

Ace hung up, heading back to his kid brother to pat his head.

“Sabo says he loves you.”

Luffy looked up, a smile on his face behind the cotton mask.

The brothers waited another ten agonizing minutes before Marco pulled up, and the boys clambered down the stairs after locking their door tight. Ace hopped in the front and Luffy made himself comfortable in the back. Marco took off as soon as the door closed, pushing the pedal to the floor as they skidded out of the complex.

“Thanks for the ride, Marco.”

“Ain’t no thing, yoi. You guys okay?” The blonde asked, glancing at his rearview mirror.

Luffy nodded from the back as Ace ruffled his own hair, “yeah. But..what the fuck is happening, dude? Pops said to get there ASAP. That’s all I know. We were too busy running around to even think of putting the news on.”

Marco glanced at him, “apparently, the flu mutated again, yoi.”

“I don’t know all the specifics, but apparently it turns you into an animal. And, it’s still as infectious as before, yoi.”

Ace winced, looking out of the windows cautiously.

“Fuck, man...not gunna lie, that’s scary as fuck.”

That got his friend to laugh, and Ace looked back at him.

“Is Pops gunna let us crash at the place for a while? I know he’s got fences and all. But, what are we doing?”

Marco shrugged, keeping his eyes peeled as people swerved and sped by him on the road. Tons of cars were on the streets, children with parents, young adults, and old people alike were fleeing as fast as they could possibly go.

“I dunno just yet, yoi. I figure he’s going to get us all flown out of here. But, I could be wrong. If not, I’m sure we’ll all be okay in the house.”

Luffy was scrolling through his messages with his friends, listening to a little to his brother talk.

And then he got a message from someone else.

_Trao 4:50am: be careful, Luffy._

He paused. Law hadn’t texted him in a long time. He debated leaving him on read but decided against it, shooting him a quick response.

_Loofi 4:52am: you and your boys alright?_

_Trao 4:53am: we’re going to group up and try to bunker down until we can get safe passage out of here._

_Loofi 4:53am: ah._   
_4:53: be safe._

Luffy rapped his fingers against his phone nervously. He hated being nervous. Especially when it came to talking to someone. Law was….someone he had trusted, but to be frank, he didn’t really want to revisit those memories. Luffy was usually a forgive and forget person, but this…

He still hoped that Law was okay.

_Trao 5:00am: do be careful, Luffy. I expect to find you alive when this is all done._

It got him to scoff, typing back as fast as possible so this conversation could be over.

_Loofi 5:00am: I will be._   
_5:03am: be safe._

“Luffy! Luffy. Have you been listening to me at all??” Ace shouted, turned in his seat with one hand planted on the back of Marco’s chair so he could turn to look at his brother.

“Huh?” Was all he could say, staring back at his older brother.

“We’re getting closer to downtown, but it’s busy. This isn’t safe, we should take a detour and head to Pop’s.”

Marco nodded his head at Ace, flicking his turn signal and getting into the next lane.

“No! We have to go get Zoro! He’s waiting for us.”

“I can’t risk you gettin’ hurt, Luffy!” Ace shook his head, looking over to Marco, “take the detour.”

Luffy sat up, leaning over into the middle of the car right near Marco’s face, pointing forward, “no! Go downtown! We can’t leave him there!”

Marco looked between the boys, swerving slightly as they yelled in his ear. There were still a lot of cars that were also trying to flee to the main road, honking and speeding past. It was getting harder and harder to evade people who were panicking. People do strange things when they’re afraid.

“Oi, I can’t focus if you’re gunna just yell all in my ears, yoi” Marco chided, trying to refocus on the road as someone floored it past him, almost hitting their side. He veered to the left, knocking all the boys to the side.

He cursed quietly as Ace and Luffy kept arguing, pushing and shoving while Marco tried very hard to keep his calm.

Ace pushed Luffy’s face with his palm, shoving him into the back seat as Luffy reached over to punch his older brother off him. Ace slapped it away and growled, leaning over to berate his younger brother for being stupid and not sitting tight and not listening to him.

A car swerved into Marco’s lane, and he had to swing right hard in order to avoid it, nearly colliding with the car beside him. Ace and Luffy were both knocked to the other side, held in only by their belts and they watched as the car kept trying to get into their lane.

Marco laid into the horn, turning to look at whoever was trying to crash into them.

“Fuck!” he growled, speeding up to get out of their way.

Ace rolled his window down, yelling at the car and flipping it off.

Which didn’t do much but piss the other driver off some more apparently, as it moved now to purposefully hit their side. Marco slammed his foot on the pedal, letting his car jet out of there and get around some other cars. He maneuvered the car into the fast lane, getting separated from the off-ramp that would take them to their detoured route to Pop’s. Marco cursed again, running a hand through his hair.

“Guess we’ll go pick up your friend on the way there, yoi. I need you both to calm down though, otherwise we’re gunna fuckin’ crash and die,” Marco sighed, glancing at Ace and then to the rearview mirror at Luffy.

“Where’s he at?”

Luffy rambled off a loose address, and Marco nodded in understanding, flicking his turn signal on and getting off onto a ramp that would take them down into the heart of Rogue town. They drove for a while before they turned onto a side street.

As it was a slower street, there were less cars and less people, but it was eerie. They were used to not seeing people on the street, but there was something….weird about it. Something they all couldn’t quite put their fingers on.

The lamplights were slightly darker. They seemed to flicker at a nonrhythmic pace. The still dark sky seemed to be darker than would be usual for it being 5am. Something about the world seemed strange. Businesses were still closed, and those that were allowed to still be open had no cars in their parking lots. Even though a lockdown of the city to contain the infection rates had been going for the past few months, there was absolutely no one on these side streets. The main streets were full of cars and people heading out to the other cities to escape their evacuation notice, and yet...this was a ghost town.

In the past couple of months, everyone had gotten used to a new way of living. Fewer people were allowed outside. High priority workers were given access to buses and certain privileges that nonpriority people had. The nobility in the northern region of Rogue Town was kept in by their iron fences, keeping the poor in the southern areas out of their shopping districts and restaurants. The only way in or out was by bus. And if you didn’t have a pass, like the one Luffy and Ace were wearing, then you weren’t allowed anywhere.

Officers patrolled the streets, sweeping for those who were trying to sneak out and be in the sun and giving them massive fines. The downtown area that was once lively was now barren, and it was apparent as they drove through and saw that there was absolutely no one on the streets. Once upon a time, the downtown area was lively and full of music. There were festivals that celebrated the musicians of the town, and back when there was still life, many people would be seen walking around and laughing. There were even homeless people on the streets. And now? No one. Not even a single homeless person. Those who hadn’t evacuated to shelters had just….disappeared.

Not like there was anyone on the streets to find out what happened to them or where they had gone...

Having lived in Rouge Town for most of their lives, the boys all watched in a grim sadness as they passed barren roads.

It took them five minutes of navigating the roads until they took a right onto Zoro’s street, Luffy pointing to the martial arts studio and then the loft above it.

They parked outside of Zoro’s loft, and Luffy dialed his number, looking up at his window expectantly.

He looked to Ace and then to Marco before he opened the door, stepping out into the cold morning air.

Much to Ace’s protests, Luffy lowered his mask, looking around at the sidewalk. Ace popped his head out of Marco’s side, leaning over him to yell at his dumb brother.

“Hey! Get back in here, Luffy!”

Luffy sighed in relief when Zoro picked up, “there you are.”

He could hear Zoro opening a door and then closing it, followed by footsteps down stairs and another door opening, “yeah yeah, I’m here. Took you guys long enough.”

Zoro opened the door to the outside of the loft’s stairs, closing it softly behind him. He grinned at his dumb friend, duffel bag slung over his shoulder.

“Yo.” Zoro held up a peace sign.

Luffy hung up, bringing his mask over his face and pointing to the car.

“C’mon, let’s get to Pop’s soon, slowpoke!” the young boy tugged at Zoro’s long sleeve.

Ace facepalmed, moving back into the car and apologizing quietly to Marco for invading his space.

Zoro nodded, heading to the car when the boys both heard something. They looked down the street at a car speeding down in the opposite direction than it was supposed to be driving.

Luffy’s eyes went wide as he turned to yell at his brother and Marco, “get out!!!!”

Ace and Marco scrambled out of the car as it came barreling towards them, plowing into its side so the car would hit the storefront with a loud crash and crush all the passengers inside.

They had managed to hop out of the way as glass rained down on the two boys, and they both shielded their faces with an arm. As soon as Marco’s car stopped, Luffy was instantly searching the wreckage for his brother.

“Ace!!!” The younger boy started pulling at the door handles, peering into the broken glass of the windshield in hopes of finding his brother not inside the wreck. His heart sank to his feet, and his stomach threatened to give up everything Luffy had eaten last night for dinner. That was until he spotted his brother and Marco safely outside of the car and on the other side of the road.

“Damn..there goes your ride, Marco…” Ace sighed, kicking at the gravel before staring down the car that had tried to kill them both.

“What a waste of a good car, yoi…” Marco pulled a gun out of his waistband, switching the safety off.

That was not something Luffy expected.

But he couldn’t worry about that, because he was too busy trying hard not to cry because he thought he had lost his oldest brother. He couldn’t make Ace believe he thought he was dead or anything, so he bit his lip and silenced himself. Zoro was right behind him, and he pointed to the car that was charging at them again, a big dent in the side from the first impact.

“Fuck! Luffy, get somewhere safe!” Ace threw his hand out protectively like it would hold the impact of a car from reaching his baby brother on the other side of the road. Marco trained his weapon to the speeding car’s wheels, taking a couple of shots that nicked the rubber.

Zoro grabbed Luffy by the back of his shirt, dragging him away from the scene as he watched the car come ever so close to his brother.

So he turned and ran a fair distance away, trusting that Ace would be okay.

The car skidded to halt, cutting it hard to the right as it skidded to a stop, hooking on its right wheel as it spun and stopped right before it hit Ace and Marco. The ear-piercing tire screech made both men grimace and reach to cover their ears.

Luffy watched from a distance as four men jumped out of this clown car and grabbed his brother by his arms and dragged him into the vehicle as he shouted and kicked, craning his neck to find his brother amongst the chaos. Ace bit someone’s arm and drew blood, spitting out a chunk of flesh. Someone else slammed a fist on his head, getting him to stop and think about what he had done.

Ace was dizzy now, the only thought on his mind was his baby brother. Was he safe? Were they going to take him too?

The younger brother reached his hand out like it would stretch out to his beloved oldest brother and save him when reality smacked him in the face and the door closed and swallowed Ace up. Marco fired a couple of rounds at the vehicle, running after it as it floored its way down the street and out of sight, leaving the three men speechless. Marco eventually stopped running, hunching over to hold his knees as he cursed loudly.

It was to Luffy’s ultimate horror that Ace had just vanished into the night on his watch…The world tilted and spun, and he very vaguely felt someone’s hand on his shoulder as he leaned over, hand over his mouth.

He gagged and heaved, suddenly not having enough air and not enough space in his throat to get more. He felt bile rise as he slumped into someone’s hold, feeling a jostling sensation throughout his body. Was someone shaking him?

Luffy had his eyes on the far end of the road where they had first turned down. Where Ace had disappeared down.

He shook himself out of whoever was holding him and he collapsed to the ground, palms to the pavement that was still riddled with broken glass and debris. His stomach couldn’t hold out anymore, and he threw up everything that was in it, hot painful tears spilling from his eyes.

The younger brother’s knees trembled on the hard concrete, his lungs scrambling to get enough air into his body. His entire body screamed in pain.

Someone shook him again and he looked up in a daze to see Zoro kneeling next to him.

“...uffy! Luffy! Hey! Snap outta it, man!”

Luffy reached a hand up to grab Zoro’s shirt, using him as a crutch to get himself to his feet. It was difficult to get his legs to move, as all they could do was knock together and give out beneath him.

“....Ace...where...give him back...that’s…” he mumbled, reaching his free hand out towards the end of the street.

“h-hey...Ace...you..you can’t just...disappear...i..” he tried again, “you..you..you’ll come back...Ace..”

“Luffy….hey...hey...look at me!” Zoro demanded, and Luffy struggled to make the words connect in his head.

 **Look**. He had just looked, hadn't he? To the end of the street where the car had just escaped down.

 **Me**. Zoro? Or himself? Who was he anyways without his brothers. He had always been with a brother. This was new. This wasn’t supposed to happen. Luffy was supposed to fly the coop, not Ace being taken away from it before Luffy was ready.

Faintly, he connected the words and dragged his head to look at Zoro who had put his hand on his forehead. Did he have a fever? When had Luffy gotten sick in the last two minutes?

Luffy smiled, in a daze. “Hey...when did...when did you get here, Zoro..? I missed you..”

But the words hadn’t made Zoro feel anything but sick to his stomach. Luffy was two feet away from a puddle of vomit and he looked like a sheet. Zoro scooped his friend up and took him to where Marco was kneeling in the street.

“Hey! Marco. I need help. I don’t know what to do! You gotta do something, he’s freaking out!” the green-haired man stood beside Marco who was mumbling something under his breath. The gun was still in his hand and the safety was still off. Zoro took a step back.

“Hey man….you might wanna put the safety on that thing….you’re gunna shoot someone….or yourself….”

Marco limply reaches for the gun’s safety, switching it on before standing and pulling his phone out with a shaky hand.

“Hey...Marco? What should I do about Luffy?” He asked again, Luffy like a dead weight in his arms.

“I’m gunna call Pops...you two bunker down and I’ll go..I’ll go get Pops…”

“You’re not leaving us, are you??”

Marco was quietly talking into his phone now, not giving Zoro his attention. He had to set Luffy down so he could put a hand on Marco’s shoulder.

“Hey. We’re coming with you. I don’t know what just happened—“

Marco turned and swatted Zoro’s hand off him, looking quite feral.

“I’m going to go get pops. And you two will stay and bunker down until I can get you out safely, yoi.” He ground out, a fire in his eyes.

“Someone messed with the wrong fucking guys…” Marco remarked before he was heading to the wreckage of his car, digging through its contents to find his and Ace’s bags.

The shrieking of metal and the crunch of glass under his shoes was the only sound the other two boys got as they watched Marco sort through the destroyed vehicle.

Zoro bent down to pick Luffy up again, throwing him over his shoulder before collecting his own duffel bag and heading back to his loft.

Luffy was saying something, but between sobs and hiccups, Zoro couldn’t understand what.

It was heart-wrenching to hear the boy wail. Zoro had only heard Luffy cry a couple of times, but never like this.

This was painful.

Zoro took a last look and offered Marco shelter in his own home, but he declined, so Zoro took Luffy up into his loft and behind lock and key.

-

Zoro took Luffy into his bathroom, taking off the cotton mask and setting his hat on the sink. The boy’s shirt was sick with vomit and he would much rather not have that smell near him. He shucked the offending thing off and tossed it into a pile.

Luffy was still sobbing, shoulders slumped, and arms limp at his sides.

He figured Luffy could sit there for a second and he grabbed a long sleeve of his own to give to Luffy, stuffing his head through it.

“Hey. Hey. Luffy.” He waved his hand in front of the other’s face.

“Luffy.” He shook the other.

“Luffy…” Zoro sighed and stood.

The young boy teetered on the floor, trying hard to keep balance. Why was balancing so difficult?

Zoro clapped a hand on Luffy’s shoulder, rattling him in hopes of bringing him back into the real world.

It seemed to work, and the young boy blinked and stopped shaking a little. There was recognition behind his eyes.

“Zoro…” his voice was hoarse, and there were still hot tears streaming down his cheeks.

“Hey. There you are...c’mon...Marco is going to get pops and we’re staying here...okay? Ace is gunna be okay and we’ll stay here until Marco can get us.”

“...Ace…” he repeated dumbly, wiping his face with his dirty and cut palms. Zoro quickly reached to grab them and clean them off with a rag.

“He’s gonna be okay. It’s Ace we’re talking about...remember?”

The boy nodded slowly.

“Cmon. It’s early. Aren’t you tired?” Zoro pulled him up to his feet, and they walked quietly to his bedroom, setting Luffy on his mattress.

“I’ll wake you up in a bit, okay? Get some sleep, yeah?”

Luffy nodded again and laid down.

Zoro waited until the boy had passed out before leaving the room to sit on the couch with his hands on his face.

That had just happened, hadn't it?

Fuck.


	2. The Sorrows

Luffy was brutally aware that he was awake for hours. It felt like days. He could feel the seconds wasting his brain away. The minutes that crawled by rotted away his brittle mind and left him feeling hollow. There was no way to gauge exactly how much time he had spent awake; he wasn’t checking. If he had, it would’ve shown how long he was sitting on this bed while his brother was somewhere he didn’t know. How was he supposed to live with himself knowing that Ace was just _somewhere_?

He had half a mind to call Sabo, but that would require him to admit his abject failure at protecting his oldest brother to his second oldest brother. How was his second oldest brother going to react to Luffy’s failure? Maybe he would yell and cry and be angry with him for the rest of his life. Maybe he would disown Luffy for failing to protect Ace. Maybe he would never talk to him again.

Maybe he would understand. And that was something that would hurt more than the shaming. If Sabo listened and empathized and still loved Luffy, he would feel so much worse because then not only would he recognize that it wasn’t fully Luffy’s fault but that there was nothing Luffy could’ve done to protect his brother.

That even _if_ Luffy had tried to save him, there was nothing that could’ve been done.

That was worse than knowing there was something he could’ve done.

So he wasted away staring at the ceiling.

His skin felt hot. He had a thin sheen of sweat over his entire body, the long sleeve that was a little too big on him sticking uncomfortably to his back, hair matted to his forehead, hands clammy. His socks felt damp and his pants were stiff and not good to sleep in. But it wasn’t truly the heat and the clothes that made him hot. It was the grief. The incomparable and inescapable grief that threatened to crush him whole.

In his final moments, Ace was looking for him, wasn’t he? He was about to be taken away and he was probably worried about Luffy in that infuriating manner he always did.

Luffy longed for Ace to fret over him if that meant he was standing in the same area as him. He would rather Ace beat his ass for stealing his leftovers than live one more moment in this unfortunate existence.

But isn’t that how it always goes? You long for the things you don’t have when you took them for granted?

When Sabo left home, it was sad, but the boys knew that Sabo was going somewhere safe and he could keep in touch. Sabo was going to be at a place they all knew. A place they could find if they needed to. But not Ace. Ace was gone.

But _where_?

Was he hurt? Was he dead? Why did they take him? Who were they? Why did they almost kill him in a kamikaze style car accident if they wanted to take him?

How could they do this to him? To his oldest brother? Someone he loved with his full heart.

Luffy wiped his forehead with the back of his sleeve and licked his dry lips. He could taste the acidic bile still lingering in his mouth.

But didn’t he deserve that? To feel and taste his own uselessness? Wasn’t that something he deserved? To remind himself that Ace’s capture was all his fault.

He let Ace be taken away. He could’ve ran. He _should’ve_ ran. But he didn’t? Why didn’t he run? Why didn’t he run? Why didn’t he push himself to sprint across the street and save his fucking older brother?

Hot tears brimmed his eyes, and he blinked them away. How could he be lying here crying? How could he do that when Ace was _out there_ and needed him?

Luffy sat up and scratched his head, pushing the wet hair off his forehead. He headed out the door to search for his friend.

“Zoro..?”

He peeked his head around the wall and saw Zoro sleeping on the couch, arms casually behind his head. He looked calm. Zoro’s chest rose and fell rhythmically, a peaceful look on his face.

It was...almost insulting how relaxed he looked. Didn’t he know the catastrophic reality that was Luffy’s world right now? Didn’t he know how precious Ace is to Luffy? How could he be sleeping so soundly!

Luffy felt anger toil in his stomach, bubbling and threatening to boil over.

He rounded the couch and forced himself to not immediately crack his friend over the head. He instead shook Zoro’s shoulder until he woke—which didn’t take long.

Zoro slapped the hand away, opening an eyelid. He blinked lazily up at his friend, brain taking a couple of seconds to process that Luffy was awake.

“Oh… I thought you’d be asleep for longer...you okay, Luf?”

Luffy took a seat beside him, hunched over and arms crossed on his knees.

“No,” he grit out.

Luffy ran his fingers through his hair frustratingly, tugging at the coarse dark thing as if pulling out every single strand would make Ace appear in front of him.

He was vividly aware that Zoro was staring at him. Felt those dark eyes look him over as if he would find a way to make him feel less awful on his shirt. He wanted to lean on his friend, have Zoro ask him the right questions that would make him feel better like Ace always would. Sabo could do it better, but Ace was always there for him. If he had felt bad after class or work or back in high school, Ace was there. His ride or die. Both of his brothers were, he didn’t want to discount Sabo’s influence and presence in his life, but Sabo wasn’t gone, was he? Ace was. Ace, who had the tightest of hugs and the biggest of appetites. The biggest smile and the happiest demeanor. Ace, who would let Luffy sleep in his bed if he was scared or sad or had sleep paralysis and needed a place to be safe. He was warm like a blanket and felt like home. He smelled like incense and fall candles: warm and spicy. His oldest brother. His Ace.

Where would he be without him?

Who was he without him?

“We have to find him.”

Zoro looked at him before nodding. If Zoro wanted to waste air, he might’ve said something like “well, Marco is supposed to come get us,” or “we should probably still try to evacuate since there _was_ an evacuation notice.” But air was precious and he already knew it would be for naught.

How on earth would they even find him and where would they even start? All things Zoro knew Luffy didn’t consider. But did it really matter? How could he tell him no?

He rolled his neck and rubbed his shoulders before standing, “yeah. Alright.”

Luffy patted down his pockets and produced his mask, putting the elastic over his ears.

Ace had told him to make sure to wear it, so by god he was going to wear the damn thing.

They still had no clue as to why there was an evacuation. There were only people fleeing and empty streets. Not so much chaos and destruction that usually comes after an evacuation alert.

Luffy headed back into Zoro’s room to grab his soiled shirt and clean it off so he could wear it again eventually.

“Ne, Zoro? Do you have my bag?” He called out, slipping his shoes back on and tying them just tight enough.

From somewhere in the loft came Zoro’s response, “no.”

Well damn. Luffy patted his pockets again to look for his phone.

The thing was luckily still in his pocket, and he unlocked it to see if there were any messages.

_Sabo 6:50am: Hey! Just checking in on you! Ace isn’t replying._   
_6:50am: it’s like him though to not respond smh._   
_6:50am: hope you guys made it to Pop’s!_   
_7:15am: okay, not trying to be annoying, but if you’re still asleep I’m going to punch you for making me wait._   
_7:20am: Ace hasn’t responded yet._   
_4 missed phone calls._   
_7:45am: Luffy._   
_7:45am: Luffy._   
_7:45am: Luffy._   
_7 missed calls._   
_8:03am: Luffy I’m gunna actually shit myself where are you guys????_   
_8:03am: if you don’t answer soon I might die of a heart attack._   
_8:20am: okay if you’re fucking with me imma be helllllla mad._   
_9:46am: Ace isn’t answering me either I’m going to kick both of your asses._   
_10:13am: Luffy, please call me when you wake up._

_Sanji 11:47am: you and your bro make it safe?_

He cursed, looking at the time.

12:36 pm.

He had wasted too many hours trying to be asleep. Trying to rationalize the fear and anguish away as if it was just another fit of sleep paralysis. He had had a lot of bouts of sleep paralysis during his childhood and he remembered how afraid and uncertain and terrified he would get. Sabo would shake him awake. Ace would welcome him into the older brother’s shared bed. He would be taken out of the fearful place and be safe sandwiched between his stronger older brothers. Reality would be blissful in those days. This was not the case.

This reality meant waking up and knowing Ace was gone. There was no bed to crawl into and no older brothers to wake up with who would make him breakfast and play games with him. There was no warmth and spice from Ace. There was no vanilla and softness from Sabo. There was nothing.

He would have to call Sabo.

Luffy watched the phone screen for a couple minutes before he hesitantly touched the call button and put the phone up to his ear.

It rang once before Sabo was screaming into his eardrum.

“Luffy!!! You scared the fuck outta me you asshole! What were you doing!? Sleeping?! Luffy! Are you guys at Pop’s yet? Ace said he’d give me a call when you guys got there and I’m assuming he just forgot because it’s so like him to just fucking forget but I’m about to lose my shit in my dorm room and we both know my roommate hates it when I get like this so tell me Luffy: where are you?? Are you safe??”

Luffy flinched harshly at the mention of Ace and he had to put his hand over his face to hide in shame from whatever god was watching over him. He waited until Sabo finished and gave him a second to talk.

“....Sabo…”

The weakness in his voice must’ve been enough to light all of the other brother’s nerves aflame. Suddenly, all of Sabo’s anger vanished into thin air and he was left with the same emptiness as Luffy.

“Luffy..? What..why do you sound like that? What’s going on..?”

Luffy bit his lip, clutching the phone tight.

“....I’m sorry, Sabo...I...I don’t know…”

“Luffy?”

How was he supposed to admit this? He already had Sabo on the line, he couldn’t back out now. If Ace were here, he’d be embarrassed that his dumb little brother couldn’t even admit when he’d done wrong. It was that consuming fear that made him spill.

“....we were picking Zoro up...and..someone hit Marco’s car...and these guys came out...and they...they took Ace….”

His voice was barely above a whisper.

Cold ice ran down Sabo’s entire body as the words connected to his brain.

“You’re okay? You’re not hurt?”

Luffy’s lip trembled, and he shut his eyes tight. This was the worst outcome...he should’ve known this would be the outcome...

“...no...I..I’m not hurt..”

“...thank god…jeez, Luffy..here I thought you got hurt…”

“How can you be so calm!?!” He yelled into the phone, body hunched over himself, “why are you worried about me!? Ace is the one that’s gone!!! I don’t know who the fuck took him! It’s my fault—

“Luffy...if Ace couldn’t take care of himself, I wouldn’t have left you guys there. I would still be home…”

“But he’s GONE, Sabo! And I don’t know what to do or where he is and I _let them take him_! I watched as Ace was just fuckin’ taken away from me! I didn’t even run after him and he was just _looking_ for me! He was just fucking LOOKING for me! Like _I_ was in trouble when _he_ was being snatched up and—

“Hey...Luffy...I can’t tell you anything that would make you feel better right now, but Ace is going to be okay. Remember? He promised us. He wouldn’t just leave us like that. Don’t underestimate him like that, he’d hate that.”

But the words Sabo was saying were completely the opposite of what he was feeling. What good would crying and freaking out do anyways? Luffy was already far gone.

And even if those words Sabo spoke were true, Luffy hated them. He hated that Sabo was right and he hated that Ace was the strong one. Why was he so weak?

“...I’m gunna bring him back…”

He heard Sabo sigh, “I need you to be safe—

“I’m getting him back. I promise.”

_Click._

Luffy pocketed the phone and stood, his resolve pushing back the fear and anger. He would be strong. He would swallow his weakness and become stone for his brother. The heat that flooded his system took over all his trepidation and anguish, leaving him renewed and angry. There was absolutely nothing to stop him and there was absolutely no time to cry or panic when he could be looking for Ace. The tears burned up on his checks as he scrubbed them off and headed outside to the wreckage of the car. The twisted metal and shards of glass still scattered about the road, leaving any movement loud and announced. He picked through the shattered window and found his mangled baseball bag and the steel bat had a dent in the side from being crunched. No matter. Luffy would and could fix it.

He popped the trunk—or at least tried to—and huffed at the machine’s broken parts. Luffy went around the back to look at the trunk and smashed his bat into one of the taillights until it broke off and he could push into the cavity with his hand and feel around the inside. His reach was just long enough to pull the tab and the trunk made a “thunk” and opened a little. He retreated his hand and pushed the lid up so he could see if there was anything of use in Marco’s trunk. There were a couple of bags and an engine oil canister on its side, a couple plastic grocery bags, and a box of masks and sanitizer. He pulled a tab on the floor of the trunk and found the compartment underneath to be stocked with papers and tire chains and a first aid kit. A box of tissue paper, a couple of oil stained rags, a broken cd case, heavy-duty black gloves, and an opened package of gum. Luffy picked through some of the stuff and ended up with a duffel full of pilfered belongings. He didn’t think Marco would mind. And if he did, he hadn’t grabbed it yet so it was all fair game. The duffel weighed heavy on his shoulder and he held the bat between his legs so he could pull the gloves over his hands. It wasn’t nearly as free as the gloves he wore to play baseball, but it was more protective and he appreciated it.

He grabbed the bottle of engine oil and tried to think of where he’d need this. It was a specific brand and type and Luffy was absolutely no good with cars. He decided against bringing it and stuffed it away in the trunk with the broken case and gum pack. Luffy shut the trunk down and headed back for the door when he heard a sound.

A clacking noise.

Now, the entire time he’d been outside in the last 12 hours, it had been completely silent. The crunch of glass and the shriek of metal against concrete had only been because he’d been stepping on them. The road and the skies were absolutely mute. Not a person nor a bird. The only music that graced his ears sounded like grating metal and he couldn’t find it in himself to not feel a drop of fear roll down his back. He turned, bag jostling its components.

He stared.

The silent air around him was stifling. He had just heard something, hadn’t he? Something living? Or at least something moving?

The town seemed to answer him with nothing, and he was faintly aware of his blood pulsing through his temples.

Nothing.

He had heard nothing after all.

But he stayed stock still, dark eyes casting a glance over every building front and sidewalk in his range of view.

The dojo’s glass was gone but there wasn’t a sound from that that he hadn’t heard already. It had been smashed right before—

Luffy shook his head, shutting his eyes tight before opening them again with renewed clarity.

The few food joints across the street had big signs taped to the inside of their glass that they were open for pickups and that their interiors were closed to outsiders. Chairs were stacked upside down on tables and no lights were on inside. Ghosts of their usual inhabitants marched around the inside and left the building feeling more empty than before. But then again, normalcy had left them months ago.

When would this town feel the joy that it had four months prior? When would a music festival pop up again and leave the city in a euphoric haze of sound and drink? When would he and his friends be able to walk across the streets and go restaurant hopping and end up fat and asleep in Zoro’s loft? When would Ace show up randomly in the middle of the night with some leftovers and leave half of it for him in the fridge? When would the silence that permeated through the town go away? When? When could things go back to how they were?

And as if to answer, Luffy heard the noise again.

_Click. Click. Click._

He shifted, eyes desperately searching for the source of the noise.

He found nothing. Again.

The noise evaded him, and he had to steel himself to force the idea that he had heard the noise again into his brain. That it wasn’t just a figment of his imagination. Every hair on his arm pricked up, leaving goosebumps down the flesh and up his back. Every single siren rang in his head that something was off.

Something was wrong.

And it wasn’t Ace’s forceful departure that was making him queasy.

It was something different.

Something new.

Of course, he had heard the rumors that floated around of what the disease was doing to people. But rumors were rumors and Luffy liked to pay no attention to the news unlike Ace.

They were so tall that he didn’t want to believe them. Usopp’s tales were small in comparison to the things he was hearing about the disease.

That it turned people into monsters. Corroded their brains and turned it to mush. Wilted like a flower in the sun with no water. That they would become ravenous and inconsolable and dangerous.

What was the rumor he heard a couple of weeks ago?

That someone had twisted their arm out of its socket so it could attack their doctor? No. They’d pulled their entire arm _off_. There were some photos being leaked around online in forums and it was just about as gruesome as one can imagine. The sheer force of both strength and will to rip your entire arm off just to attack someone. It was terrifying. But then again, it was just a rumor. The images could’ve been from the northern country. He didn’t know. He wasn’t the one circulating the image around. Usopp had been the one to show him (and then vomited in his mouth two seconds later) and both men didn’t believe it.

Another rumor had it that a lady had jumped off a pedestrian ramp that was diagnosed with the disease and she had survived. Every bone in her body was mangled and she survived and tried hurting her savior. She’d lunged at him with broken and brittle bones. She was sobbing hysterically and reaching with bones broken in distorted angles and biting as if her life depended on it.

And that’s when it hit him. The sound.

_Clackclackclackclackclackclackclackclackclackclackclackclackclackclackclackclackclackclackclackclackclackclackclackclackclackclackclackclackclackclackclackclackclackclackclackclackclackclack_

It was the sound of chattering bone on bone.

_Teeth._

Ice slithered down his back and he found himself paralyzed.

It was then that Luffy realized there was something more behind the noise. Something….wet and agonizing.

It was something equally as bone-chilling and mortifying.

_Wailing_.

His grip tightened on his bat nervously.

A bead of sweat rolled down his brow.

The sound was much closer now, and Luffy turned to find the source of the noise as he was fairly certain it was coming from up the street. It wasn’t too far but it wasn’t as faint as before. The echoes of the sobbing person made it sound more horrifying than anything. He wondered what was so damn sad.

Why did they get to cry so openly? What gave that crybaby the right to sob when that’s all Luffy wanted to do? They hadn’t lost their brother right in front of them. They hadn’t watched as their oldest brother reached out to grab Luffy’s far away hand. They didn’t watch the car swallow Ace up and take him away. So why were they crying? The anger swelled in his gut again, brow furrowed and pinched. He wanted to move but his body didn’t cooperate, so he stood there and gripped his bat tighter.

The wailing moved closer.

Luffy kept his eyes peeled as he kept rooted in his spot, unable to move. It would be really noisy if he did, and he had a terrifying feeling that if he moved an inch that somehow the person crying would come closer. And truthfully, he didn’t care if they were crying because they needed help, he was petrified. The circumstances that led up to this point only backed his fear up. It was too coincidental for it to not be freaky.

The rumors.

The sounds.

The crying.

Everything was adding up and Luffy had no choice but to keep himself still lest he alert whoever was out there to his presence.

So he waited.

And waited.

And the sound drew nearer and nearer.

Until he saw the figure round the corner to the street.

From afar, he saw the hunched over form move slowly across the street, something dragging behind it. It took slow steps, taking a couple of moments to hobble a few feet. It looked like it was limping. He squinted, raising a hand over his eyes to try to see farther—like it would help—and watched the figure move. It was…interesting to see it hobblewalk across the pavement, almost aimlessly wandering. It howled in misery and advanced at a snail’s pace, dragging whatever behind it.

It took a couple minutes of silent watching for him to realize what was being dragged behind it.

It’s own broken leg.

It was _limping_.

He watched in horror as the limping figure pulled its weight on one leg and hobblestepped on the other. The agonizing howl was from its _god damn leg_ and Luffy felt compelled to move finally; to jog over to the figure and see if they were alright or needed first aid.

Well, duh they needed first aid, but...he needed to see if they needed...something. The sound of his cleats thudding over the pavement and the jostling of the items in his bag seemed to alert the crying figure to his location, and it turned its head slowly. And as Luffy neared the person, he skidded to a stop and dropped the metal bat with a loud clang.

Her leg was almost completely detached, gashes and sores running up the length of the shin from being run over rough and coarse concrete. The bone poked out from the muscle and flies buzzed around the meat, laying eggs in the exposed tissue. Her face was contorted and elongated, jaw seemed to be unhinged as it chattered and sobbed. The pale skin dropped around her eyes, leaving a dark print underneath and a deep shadow cast over her eyes as it sunk deeper into the skull. In fact, her entire body seemed to sag as she carried herself over to Luffy. She reached out and Luffy could see the dried blood under her nails and the gashes and sores that splayed over her wrinkled hands. She moaned and wailed in agony as she chattered her teeth and seemed to stare at him, eyes distant and looking farther than him while also boring into his own eyes. Her clothes hung loosely around her torso and luckily her pants were held up by a stylish belt, otherwise, they’d be wrapped around her ankles. Her hips seemed to poke out through the skin and protrude at sharp angles, leaving cascading folds of skin around her stomach. She stunk.

But she looked like she could’ve been beautiful. If the skin were tighter pulled and had some sort of warmth behind it. He thought maybe she would’ve had a pretty smile or at least a friendly face. Golden hair must’ve been what the color was, but frankly, the disheveled pale mustard that stuck up around her head was anything but what a golden sheen should look like. Her eyes seemed to be dark brown, but they were clouded over and seemed to have little to no luster. Her cheeks were dusted with freckles that must’ve come from sunlight, and Luffy was vaguely reminded of Ace’s freckles. He loved Ace’s freckles.

This was nothing like Ace.

She moved ever closer, crying and holding a hand out as if to reach out and lean on Luffy for support. Or for help. He pulled his mask tighter over his face, taking a step backwards. It seemed to agitate her, as she seemed to get louder. Begged harder.

“I...s-sorry, I can’t..—

The woman lunged, teeth chattering and voice hoarse and ragged as she shrieked, wailing loud and in such a high pitch that a soprano would wince.

Luffy backpedaled, hands going over his own ears to keep the wretched noise from bursting his ears. Thankfully she was hobblestepping slow enough to where he could reach down to pick up his bat and eye her from a safe distance. But he had a feeling the screeching was going to attract...something. Something decidedly not good.

He took a step back after every step she took.

“H-hey..you—you don’t look so good, chief...I shouldn’t uh..you gotta stay a couple feet away from me...” he tried again, throat suddenly dry.

And she didn’t say anything—well, not words—instead, she shrieked again, making Luffy reach up to cover his ears again. He groaned and shut his eyes, backing up some in case she decided to lunge for him when he couldn’t see.

And when she did lunge for him, he tripped over his own two feet, landing squarely on his ass with a crash of his bag beside him. He looked up, hands saved by the grace of his newly pilfered gloves as the bat rolled away.

Luffy scrambled backwards, cutting up the palms of his gloves in the process of trying to evade the sobbing one-legged woman.

What the fuck was he going to do? She was alive and moving and he didn’t want to hurt her, but she was freaking him out. And to be frank, she was getting weirdly close to him and biting at him like he was some three-course meal waiting on a plate. His danger sense was ringing off the charts at this interaction, and he had no idea what the hell he was going to do.

When she collapsed to the ground at his feet, clawing at the road to pull herself near him, Luffy kicked his foot out at her.

“Hey! I’m serious, lady! Don’t come any fuckin’ closer! I-I’ll kick you!” He warned, cleat making solid contact with her face, but she reached to grab his pant leg, dragging it back with her.

Luffy yelped, grasping around for his bat and bringing it down on the hands currently wrapped around his leg. It rang out loud and she hollered and cried as she reached out again for his shoe, it thankfully being tied tight enough to not slip off. He bit his lip and kicked his foot again, but this woman wasn’t getting it and he was forced to swing the metal bat down on her head, colliding her face in the street with a wet thud.

He panted, clutching his chest and letting the bat drop so he could move away from her. He saw her abandoned leg about ten feet away from where she lay now and a greasy trail of dark blood followed her. Luffy groaned, turning over and pulling the mask off as he tried to breathe in fresh air and ease the rising nausea.

He stood, using the back of his hand to cover his mouth as he heaved, desperately trying to battle the bile in his throat. Luffy was there for a few moments before it went away and he replaced the mask and grabbed his bat, walking away from the woman on the ground.

When he had finally made it back to the loft’s outer door, he had to give himself a minute to collect his thoughts. He really had smashed that lady’s head because she was trying to bite his ankles. She really was decaying and bleeding out from her stump leg. She really was still crying softly, and it haunted him as he had to walk away from her. She really had lunged for him. She really looked....dead. And when he had hit her hands off, he knew he had bent one of her fingers in a way they weren’t supposed to bend, but he had done it regardless because he was fucking scared. She wasn’t acting like a normal human. She hadn’t said a word to him. Not a single fucking thing except that god damn crying. He supposed maybe she did deserve to cry (being that her entire fucking leg was trailing behind her) and that she might’ve been in agony long before he clubbed her over the head. There was a lot he didn’t know, but he did know that this….sorrowful woman was not going to be able to come after him anymore. There wasn’t anything he could do for her anymore, and he was fine with that. She had just tried to eat his goddamn leg like some mutton at a medieval festival. He was okay with her where she lay now, and he would absolutely leave her to her own devices.

He was done with this weird shit for the time being.

Zoro buzzed him back into his loft and Luffy pulled the mask off after his hat so he could settle on the floor and take a goddamn break from what had happened out there.

“Woah...you okay there, Luf…?” his friend came up to his side, dropping to his haunches so he could look over his friend. Zoro noticed the speckled rust on Luffy’s shoes. That wasn’t paint. He knew the shoes had paint on them previously, but that wasn’t it. The rust was...wet.

Zoro looked at him, a silent question in his eyes that asked far more than he had spoken.

Luffy cradled his hands to his chest, not looking at his friend.

“Yeah...just...some lady tried to like...fuckin’ chomp on m’leg…”

Zoro blinked.

“I’m sorry, _what_? She tried to what?” he asked dumbly.

“I don’t fuckin’ know, dude...just...this lady was like, cryin’ and walkin’ around all weird ‘cos her leg was all messed up and it was just hangin’ there barely connected to anything and her jaw just kept like clattering or whatever and she just kept on cryin’ and cryin’ and didn’t do anything about her leg that--did I mention?-- was bleeding and almost off her body! And I tried to go over and help her because she looked and sounded like she was in pain and when I got closer she looked so emaciated and thin that I kinda just had to stop and stare at her while she eyed me down like a snack, man. And she wasn’t wearin’ a mask or anythin’ and she just kept coming closer as I tried to tell her to back off because she was freakin’ me out an’ everything. Her fuckin’ jaw man, it looked like a snake! I don’t even know how she was able to move it because it looked like it was all broken and shit! Just fuckin’ dangled by a god damn piece of muscle or somethin’, man….” Luffy was spewing about everything he could think of, and Zoro struggled to keep up with his words because he was practically vomiting them at him.

“Woah, woah, woah...back up? You said she was trying to eat you?”

Luffy finally looked up at him, “That’s what you got from that? Not that her entire leg was dangling??”

“Well, I get that--you basically described that in as much vivid detail as you possibly could in the shortest amount of time possible--but I think the important thing here is that she tried to eat you, dude. I mean, the whole leg thing is freaky, but that’s her deal. Your deal is that she tried to chomp on you. Like. Eat you, eat you.” Zoro’s brow was pinched in concern and he looked over his friend to make sure he didn’t have any skin missing.

“...I hit her with my bat, dude.”

Zoro blinked twice. Those words didn’t really register for a moment, and when they did, he had to laugh nervously. “What, like...for fun?”

Luffy knocked him over the head, “no! Not for fuckin’ fun, jerk! She was pulling on my leg with those like...gross fingers and hungry eyes! I didn’t hit her too hard, but enough to like, get her to stop comin’ after me!”

Zoro rubbed his head, “Oi, Oi...you didn’t...kill her, did you?”

The younger boy shook his head softly and looked away, “no…she was still crying...and moving...just..y'know...not a lot...cos I hit her with a fuckin’ baseball bat…”

The other had to sit finally, rubbing the back of his neck. “Rough day, huh…”

Luffy huffed, crossing his arms on his knees and drawing them to his chest so he could rest his chin on his forearms. “Yeah…”

They sat like that for a while. Silent. Trying to figure out what the fuck just happened and what the fuck to do next.

Luffy didn’t know how to feel. There was a lot of shit raging on in his head as the minutes ticked away. Ace. Sabo. The woman.

If he hadn’t killed the woman, she was definitely more injured than when he first found her. He didn’t put his full weight into that swing, but he definitely hurt her. That’s for sure. The sound his bat made was definitely loud enough to signify that he had bonked her hard enough to knock her out, so hearing her cry was definitely terrifying. Thankfully, it was the same crying she had made earlier, so hopefully it was just her continuing to make the noise and not because he had caused her some agony.

But what the fuck was up with her? If the rumors were true, then she had...something wrong with her. She was probably sick. Probably gotten the disease from someone and was wandering around with her brain all mush. The online photo of the pulled out arm flashed through his head and he had to physically shake it to get rid of the image. He had seen enough limbs detached for a lifetime and had a dreadful feeling that he was going to see more.

When had the world gone to shit? On whose watch? Not four months ago he and his friends were out on the streets having fun and his eldest brother was home and the other at school. When did the world decide to take away all his freedom? To go outside as he pleased with no mask and no identification? To not worry about where his brother was and why someone was trying to eat his leg? Why had everything gone to shit so quick? It was only in the last couple months where everything was declining.

Images of Luffy and his friends in Nami’s apartment drinking beer and eating whatever Sanji had made for them while they watched Star Wars and laughed flooded his mind. Zoro had been laughing and happy, drinking to his heart’s content. Usopp and Kaya were bickering about which Star Wars was the best and how hot Harrison Ford is/was. Sanji was sitting with Nami and flirting horribly while she paid him no mind and ate dinner carelessly. Luffy got to sit and bask in the euphoric noise of being in a full room with happy people—while eating.

In the next instance, he and Usopp movie hopping at the theatre downtown popped into his head. They had almost got caught, but they had hid behind the trash can, giggling and covering their mouths as the worker walked by. They had watched three movies that day before getting kicked out.

In the next, he, Nami, and Sanji were window shopping. Luffy didn’t know how he had gotten roped into it, but he was carrying four bags in each hand and Sanji had at least twelve bags he was carrying. Nami looked happier than a clam even with her wallet completely empty. Her smile radiated so much positive energy both boys were sure they’d never not smile again.

In the next, he and Zoro were watching basketball on tv, basking in each other’s comfort. There were a couple opened beers on the coffee table and two empty pizza boxes stacked in the garbage. Neither boy was as relaxed as they were when they hung out. It was peaceful.

In the next, Ace and Sabo were both home and were napping on the couch, half of their bodies on each other like they were mattresses. Luffy was sandwiched between them, half awake and completely content. Ace to his right was warmer than any blanket. Sabo was softer and comfier than any bed. The protection and love that emanated from his brothers made him feel completely one with life.

And in the next, he opened his eyes and saw the woman’s blood on his shoes and was vividly reminded of how not wonderful life became. How those memories would only ever be memories and he wouldn’t be able to get them back. The most he could get was Zoro’s comfortable presence, and Luffy knew it was better than anything he could’ve asked for at the moment. He didn’t move, chin still resting on his forearm. He couldn’t and didn’t want to move. Maybe if he stayed here, the world would put itself back together and return Ace to his life.

And if he was a religious man, maybe he would’ve begged god. Asked for Ace’s safety and survival, Ace would appear before him in a puff of holy smoke and hug him and tell him that it was all just a bad dream. That’s how gods work, right?

“Luffy…”

The boy blinked and looked over, a questioning look on his face.

“The idiot is calling you.”

“Oh. That’s right… I forgot Sanji asked if I was okay…” Luffy reached for his phone that had fallen out of his pocket and put it up to his ear.

“Yo.”

He could hear Sanji give a large sigh.

“There you are. I was wondering what the fuck happened to you,” the blonde laughed in relief.

“Oh. I’m with Zoro.”

“My condolences. I just wanted to make sure you were okay. I haven’t been able to reach anyone and it’s been freaking me out. I can’t get a hold of Nami or her sister or her mom. Usopp’s line gets me to voicemail every time and Kaya isn’t answering either,” His voice had become increasingly more telling of his anxiety.

“What? How come no one has their phone on?” Luffy let his chin rest against his chest as he slunk down against the wall, his other arm sling haphazardly across his chest.

Sanji groaned, “I don’t know, Luffy. I was hoping you’d heard anything from anyone.”

He shook his head like Sanji would see, “no. I’ve been..dealing with some shit on my own…”

“...you good?”

“Yeah...I’m alright. Some lady almost ate my leg--

“how can you say that so casually?!?? What are you talking about??!!” Sanji yelled into the phone and Luffy moved the loud thing away from his ear for a moment so Sanji could continue yelling without blowing his eardrums out. When he had finished, Luffy put the phone back to his ear.

“Okay...well..I went outside so I could grab my stuff out of the car, but since the car was broken I was taking a lot more time than usual and I heard someone crying and it kinda made me freeze up and eventually this lady came out with her leg dragging behind her so I went over to her to see if I could help and when I finally saw her I could see her jaw was like clattering like those old wind-y toys with the feet and the teeth and she was just sobbing man, so I kinda stayed away from her and she lunged at me and tried to eat me so I hit her upside the head so she’d knock it off and now I’m back in Zoro’s loft cos I don’t really wanna be outside right now—“

“BACKUP. Backup backup backup backup backup backup backup backup, Luffy. There’s so much information there and I can’t even begin to comprehend what you just rattled off. Did you even breathe saying that??? You HIT A WOMAN?”

Luffy shrugged, “she was trying to eat me. I dunno man, I feel like I was justifi—

“The next time I see you, I’m gunna knock your lights out, you jerk! How could you!” He roared, continuing to list off various ways to teach Luffy a lesson in manners as if it would help.

He let Sanji yell at him for a moment before he had gotten bored. Luffy rubbed his face, “Sanji. Are you safe where you are?”

Sanji didn’t appreciate the change of subject, but he couldn’t do anything from there, so he’d allow it. “Yeah. The old geezer is fine too. Except Pattie is breathing down my god damn neck— you bastard quit listening to my phone call!”

Luffy could hear Pattie and Sanji bicker and argue for a while before the attention was back on him.

“Anyways. You and your brother need a place to go? You guys are welcome here on the Baratie if you want.”

Luffy paled, voice going soft, “it’s just Zoro and I…”

“Huh? You said your brother was going with you.”

“...I know…”

Oh. “Oh.” He breathed, the blonde taking a moment to try to figure out what that meant. How could he know? How would anyone connect those dots?

“Can we...still come?” Luffy asked, hesitant.

“Mmmm….I guess you and the idiot can come. But he has to stay the fuck away from me, damn bastard. I’ll give that asshole dog food instead…” Sanji grumbled.

Luffy snorted, tone lightening abruptly, “you’re so weird, Sanji…”

“Yeah yeah. Be careful, Luffy. With all the weird shit going on, just try to not get eaten by some rando in the street. I’ve heard it’s crazy out there on the news too cos that damn old bastard won’t do anything else except watch it,” Sanji griped, audibly taking a pull from his cigarette.

“That’s what Ace said yesterday...but...it’s been fairly quiet except for that lady…” he scrunched his nose and itched his ear. “Honestly, I don't understand why that notice went out at all.”

“Apparently some of the patients at the hospitals got freed somehow. The government is pinning it on some liberation group trying to protect their freedom or whatever because the patients were being forced to stay at the hospitals. From what I gather, since the thing is supposedly so contagious, the people who got them out probably got infected and then just spread it that way. Them fucks probably didn’t wear masks or gloves or whatever. Hazmat suits? I dunno. Pattie and Carne were debating over it. If Carne would take his damn tin foil hat off for two seconds to not think everything is a government conspiracy, maybe he would see that sometimes the plague is just a plague brought on by other dumbasses. I think the evacuation was just to get as many people out of the area of the disease carriers as possible so they wouldn’t have a disaster on their hands, but I’m no expert.” Sanji’s voice was surprisingly calm, and it made Luffy relax a little.

Snoring from his side made him turn, and he giggled into the phone as he watched Zoro sleep with his arms folded over his chest, “you think there’s a safe pathway to you up north for us? If all that’s true, I don’t wanna be outside for any longer than I have to be.”

“Mm..should be? I dunno. We’re keeping the boat docked for a bit so we can fuel up and head out to sea to escape this craziness. Should be plenty of time for you guys to get here on foot. Unless you somehow stretch the ETA for like two or three days, I think you’ll be fine.”

The younger boy nodded and nudged his friend softly, “alright. Well. We’ll see you in a couple hours. You guys are pretty far north from us.”

“Mhm. Be safe, Luffy. Tell the asshole that he could trip over his own shoelaces and choke on his own tongue though for all I care.”

That got him to laugh and he shook his head, “I’ll tell him to be careful too. You don’t have to worry about him.”

“So you’re just gunna grossly miscommunicate my entire message? Fine. Be that way. I’ll see you on the Baratie.”

The phone hung up before Luffy got a chance to say goodbye and he shoved the thing into his pocket. He shook Zoro again, “Oi Oi Oi, Zoro. Get up, come on.”

The other boy grumbled and swatted at his hand, “lemme jus’...five minutes…”

Luffy whined and poked his side, “cmon...we gotta get movin’...”

Zoro opened an eyelid and glared at him, “five minutes, Luffy…”

“If I let you sleep for five minutes you’re just gunna ask for five mooooore, Zoroooo…”

Luffy flopped against Zoro’s side, trying to put all his weight on him in an attempt to annoy him awake. It seemed to be working because Zoro was definitely getting irritated with him.

“Luffy, knock it off. We’re safe here. The evacuation isn’t because of a fire or a storm, so we’re fine.”

The younger boy decided to pat Zoro’s face repeatedly until he woke up. It took all of one minute for Zoro to wrench Luffy’s hand out of the way and push him off so he could stand and get up.

“I just wanted to close my eyes for a couple minutes, is that so much to ask these days, Luffy??”

And even though Zoro was pissed, Luffy just smiled up at him with a shrug, “I know you too well! You would’ve slept for at least a couple hours. We both like our naps.”

It was infuriatingly correct on Luffy’s part, and Zoro had to admit he definitely would’ve been out cold if he didn’t wake up then. But he definitely didn’t need to be right so Zoro just scoffed and grabbed Luffy’s arm and pulled him up.

“Since it’s so imperative we leave right now, let’s get a move on,” he grunted. The younger man dusted himself off and grabbed his duffel bag off the floor. He stuffed his old t shirt into the bag and watched Zoro disappear down the hall for a moment, only to come back a few seconds later with his own bag. It was slung across his shoulder and seemed to be pretty empty of items. Luffy pointed at it, silently asking if that was all he had to bring along.

“It’s just like underwear, socks, and a spare set of clothes. I think I put a jacket in there too. We’re not leaving forever, are we?” The older man tilted his head.

“I don’t think so, no.” Luffy confirmed. He took his hat off and tied the mask onto his face before replacing the hat onto his head. The little string that dangled below his chin and kept the hat firmly on his person was tight enough after a quick glance and he moved his fingers a bit to get used to the stiffness of the gloves. Zoro was quick to follow Luffy in tying his own mask on and swiped a bandana from the bag so he could keep his hair back and under its protection.

The men nodded to each other in a final confirmation of their readiness and headed for the door. The metal bat rested casually on Luffy’s shoulder as they walked down the narrow hallway between the entrance and Zoro’s loft, and both men found themselves outside quickly.

It was around 1:20 in the afternoon and they had a couple hours of walking ahead of them. Luffy rubbed his chin in thought, calculating their approximate arrival time.

Luffy had often woken up at Zoro’s and walked to work from there—well, the bus stop, at least. He figured that it wouldn’t take them more than three hours to get there, which would put them at the Baratie before dark. This was good, as Luffy had no desire to meet any sorrowful and mangled women in the dark tonight. If all went well, Luffy would be having amazing food tonight and good company, so he would have to make sure Zoro didn’t take them down the wrong street so they would be on time.

He glanced at the broken car and then dared to look beyond it to where the woman lay face down on the pavement with a pool of blood beneath her leg. Luffy quickly looked away and shut his eyes and Zoro seemed to step between him and the woman to cut off his view.

“C’mon, Luf.”

Zoro’s hand was on his hip and he pushed Luffy gently with his free one to get him out of the mindset that he knew would consume him. If it was an Ace thought, Zoro knew it would paralyze the younger man for longer than either of them would like.

For now, both men faced away from the car and the woman and kept their focus on anything but them.

Not Marco’s car.

Not the glass and metal on the ground.

Nor the woman lied prone on the concrete or the pool of blood.

And not the street where Luffy had last seen Ace.

They walked forward towards the Baratie.

To Sanji and Zeff.

To Ace.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Grief is pretty weird. It's a fascinating part of life, to deal with grief. You can grieve over any loss. Here Luffy is struggling to come to grips with his loss and his own trauma with the incident. I wanted to really hit home the fact that although Luffy is a cheery person regularly who enjoys being a little chaotic, he still deals with trauma on his own. He doesn't like to talk about it. In the show, he talks openly about his grief over Ace with Sabo. But it's never mentioned outside of that to any of his crew. I like that about Luffy. It makes him seem real. Real people don't like to show their weaknesses. Some do, some don't. But it's obvious that Luffy's character is dealing with trauma while also remaining fun and boisterous. I don't plan on dampening his character, but it's important to see that he is hurting. Sanji and Zoro's relationship should be fun to write soon. I don't plan on them being too aggressive, but they'll be pretty canon compliant with their threats and blatant dislike of each other. However, I do want to emphasize that Sanji will be different and I don't plan on him being as fucking gross as he is in the manga. You'll see.
> 
> Anyways. Safety and Peace.  
> -TRDB


	3. Journey to the Baratie

Rogue town was so full of life a couple months prior to this moment. Both men were well aware of how awfully silent and alone they were in the large downtown district. They passed boutiques and restaurants and gelato stores and bookstores that were once filled to the brim with people and the sum of their happiness. Teenagers flocked with their friends to the boba houses and would sit for hours and play Jenga and slurp up delicious sweet teas. 

At one point, the group had visited one of these shops when they were in high school. 

Luffy remembered because Kaya and Usopp had just started dating. They were happily sitting together and being sugary sweet with each other. He remembered seeing the love in their eyes. He wondered what that raw emotion felt like. To have someone look at him that way with no other strings attached. Zoro and Sanji were fighting over something dumb—and he had to admit, they always fought over something dumb. Nami was munching on sweet potato fries while leaning on him, watching their dumb friends talk. 

Luffy felt the closest to Nami, they had certainly been friends the longest. She had always made him open up when he needed it. There was something about how she clung to him that gave him big brother status. It was his turn to be a big brother when Nami hid behind him and pointed to a group of guys ogling her. Often, he had to knock a couple people to the ground in order to get them away from her. He didn’t care if he had to beat some sense into people; if they weren’t going to go willingly, they were going to go unwillingly. 

Nami would stick her tongue out at the boys and laugh, hiding behind Luffy as he convinced (threatened) them to go away. And it would go one of two ways: they would either go away or they would try to prove their masculinity and would fall by Luffy’s fist. Then she would treat him to ice cream. He would’ve done it without the ice cream, but it was a treat regardless, and he would take it.

Luffy had never been a stranger to a fight--especially those that challenged his friends and his pride-- and even with the threats of kicking him off the baseball team, he still never backed down. He had fought for Nami countless times. For things big and small. Sometimes, she’d take him with her when she needed to get some maintenance work on her and her sister’s shared car so they wouldn’t try to mess with her. Of course, she was handling all the numbers, but Luffy was there for brawn. Nami was not helpless, even Luffy could acknowledge that, but it was always nice to have someone you could trust to back you up if need be. When they were kids, Luffy would throw down with the neighborhood bullies that threw pebbles at Nami or knocked her pencil out of her hand when she was drawing. Ace and Sabo had given him hell for getting in trouble all the time, but they weren’t exactly saints either. 

Sometimes, if Luffy was lucky, Sanji and Zoro would be with him when someone decided they’d mess with Usopp or tease Nami. None of his friends would back down from a fight, and Nami would call them the “one brain cell party” because no one would think with their head when it came down to it. Usopp was less prone to getting in fights, but he wasn’t a bad person to clown with. He was strong and fierce and had the best aim than the three of the One Brain Cell Party combined. 

Once, someone was talking mad shit about Luffy and his chaotic ways, and Usopp had taken his frisbee and head shot him with it from across the quad when he had heard about it through mutual friends. 

Luffy had beef with as few people as possible, but he wasn’t going to back down from a challenge ever. His pride wouldn’t allow it. 

Those were his friends. He would never let something happen to them. 

Knowing that no one could get in touch with Nami was unsettling. If something was wrong with her, he could never forgive himself. He would never get over it. If he couldn’t protect Ace--someone who was much stronger and could handle himself, then he could settle for protecting his friends that relied on him. And if he couldn’t do that, then what good was he to even be alive. If he couldn’t protect the people that relied on him, why was he even here?

“Oi. Luffy. Aren’t you hungry?” 

The younger boy blinked himself out of his headspace and looked over to his friend who was staring at him expectantly.

“Always,” he responded, rubbing his stomach for good measure. Zoro nodded at him and pointed to the gas station on the next street corner. 

“You think someone will be in there?”

“Gas stations don’t close! They are the backbone of this country and they sell really good hot dogs there. If they’re closed we’re gunna have to bust in and get some shit,” Luffy twirled his bat in his hand.

“You never like following rules, do you?”

“That’s a dumb question! Of course I don’t! Fuck the law!” He raised his arms in a “hoo rah” motion.

Zoro looked away, “yeah, I should’ve known.”

“mmh...I don’t see any stores open at all. I don’t like it. Feels so empty.”

“Well, we did disobey an evacuation notice,” the other man shrugged.

“Yeah but, we wouldn’t have if those assholes hadn’t…” Luffy cleared his throat, “we wouldn’t have had to.”

The tenderness of his voice was something that didn’t fail to make Zoro feel guilt. He had been the one to pull Luffy away from Marco and Ace in the first place. The reaction was completely habitual. When had Zoro not protected Luffy over anyone else? Had there even been a moment where Luffy hadn’t been put before himself?

No matter what happened, like when his friends started ragging on Luffy or saying something about the kid, Zoro had always made the move to defend him. Scathing words or a disappointing glare, he was always there to knock off anyone that Luffy didn’t need to handle. Both boys were fighters. Zoro was trained in many different types of combat; from martial arts to kendo to wrestling, he was versed in many styles of defense and offense. There wasn’t much he couldn’t do.

And even if he couldn’t do them, he still found himself thinking that things were going to be okay regardless. The two friends were together and they may not have much in the sense of brainpower, but with their brawn they’d come out alright. They had always come out on top in any pinch. If Zoro could count on someone to be there and to be strong, it was Luffy. They’d been friends for six years at this point, and both men were well acquainted with each other and were accustomed to their antics and flaws. Zoro knew Luffy pretty much in and out and Luffy knew him just about the same. There were things that neither man shared about themselves, but they had grown so close during the years they’ve been friends, it didn’t matter that there were things they didn’t know. Luffy accepted Zoro into his life and even was kind enough to consider him his best friend. He would be forever grateful for that stupid kid bumping into him in the high school weight room. 

And he had followed that same kid to the precipice of the unknown in front of a gas station. Said best friend was staring down the building with a hungry glint in his eyes dreaming of Slim-Jims and Icees. 

Ah yes, that best friend.

Zoro analyzed the area quickly, finding no one and nothing on the streets. He wouldn’t be surprised if a tumbleweed came curling through the air. If there had been a soundtrack at that very moment, he would’ve heard the main title from The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly. 

The gas station was a homing beacon for both boys as they marched inside and habitually waved hello to the clerk--who wasn’t there. Luffy frowned. 

“Well, that’s not good business. Why didn’t they lock up before they left?” Zoro mused, meandering through the aisleways for some beef jerky. 

“Who cares! Free food!” Luffy drooled, swiping candy into his bag with one arm and pulling cheez-it packets with the other. 

“You can’t just steal that, Luffy. There are people still here. Society isn’t gone just because we’ve evacuated. There’s cameras. Someone is going to come back and review the footage and find that some scrawny ass kid is jackin’ all their merchandise,” he scolded, patting his back pocket to finger through his wallet to see how much money he could spend. 

Luffy begrudgingly put the items back on the shelf, puffing his cheeks out like a child. He then made a very adult decision to flip off the cameras on the ceiling and take a bite out of a kit kat. 

The two boys reconvened at the fridge section in the back, rubbing their chins as they decided which drink they would grab. Had this been a normal gas station run, Zoro would’ve gotten a case of beer along with a bag of jerky along with some salted cashews. Luffy would’ve grabbed a watermelon iced tea, a jumbo dog from the little kiosk, and two bags of sour patch kids. However, this was no ordinary gas station run and both boys were well aware of it. Had Luffy not just been almost eaten by some lady today and Ace disappeared earlier in the morning, Zoro would’ve been inclined to get his regular spread. But instead, he went with a red bull, some tylenol, and a family size bag of bbq chips. It made a lot of noise in his bag, but he would do something about that very soon. Luffy showed Zoro his haul: two large bags of unshelled peanuts, dill pickle flavored chips, a kit kat wrapper, four bags of sour patch kids, and some beef jerky. 

“That’s too expensive. They jack up the prices on those, you know that, right?” Zoro looked unimpressed at the bag while Luffy frowned at him. 

“I have money too!”

“Yeah? Your bag alone is like….twenty dollars worth of snacks.”

“Maybe at movie theatre prices! But not gas station prices!”

“When was the last time _you_ bought anything from the gas station?”

“A couple weeks ago when we went to Nami’s!”

“No. That was me.”

A pause to think.

“The time we went to Usopp’s!”

“Still me, Luffy.”

“Okay, but what about when Sanji and I went to the mall with Nami and Kaya and Usopp drove us?”

“Uhhhh I wasn’t there but I can only imagine the idiot paid for it.”

“Usopp didn’t even buy anything!”  
  


“I wasn’t talking about Usopp.”

Luffy huffed and crossed his arms, “I’ve bought things before.”

The mad expression on Luffy’s face was too cute to pass up, so Zoro decided to drop it, scratching the back of his head with a sigh, “I’m sure you have before. But let’s just pretend I know what I’m talking about for once.”

The pouty boy made a very exaggerated show of opening up the fridge door to grab three watermelon iced teas, stuffing them very inelegantly in his bag.

Zoro gave him a look which only made the boy turn away with a “humph!” and walk down the aisle to where the slushies were located towards the back of the store near the bathrooms. 

He browsed the beautiful collection of colorful ice and tapped his fingers against his chin in deep thought as if picking the perfect slushie would ensure world peace and prosperity. He and Zoro both knew he was going to suicide the slushie machine as always and give himself a brainfreeze. And that’s exactly what he did. He took the largest cup size and ran it under every single different flavor until he filled the cup. Zoro grimaced and turned away to look around the front of the shop. Maybe procure some gum or a coffee.

Luffy pinched the top of his mask and brought it up so he could take a victory sip of his drink, smiling with satisfaction at the taste of his awful concoction. He heard a grunt and a crash from the side room where the bathrooms were and blinked. Maybe he had heard that wrong. He took another sip and walked cautiously towards the bathrooms.

“Hello?” he called, peeking around the corner and down the hallway that led to the employee’s only area. 

Nothing.

Luffy set his bag down by the bathroom door and twisted the handle. No one. He shut the door after glancing around and proceeded to do the same with the other bathroom. 

Again. Nothing. 

He was satisfied with finding nothing and turned to walk down the hallway and back with his friend.

Until he heard the noise again. This time, from the backroom.

The door was slightly ajar and inviting him inside, so he took a slurp of his drink and tightened his grip around the bat. The beckoning was too good to pass up and he slowly pushed the door open.

The door creaked like it hadn’t been oiled in at least a hundred years. It was something out of a horror movie, and Luffy hated horror movies. It was something that Law had liked. He had seen far too many slasher flics with that man. He advanced behind the entrance, nerves on fire.

This was the part in the movie he hated where the person went through the spooky door against everything in their body and found the monster. _Or_ got killed horrifically. He had always hidden his face behind a pillow while Law would sit there, eat milk duds, and laugh at their obvious foolishness. And yet, here he was, consciously making the decision to be the idiot and separate himself from his party to go find the source of the spooky noise. 

Law would’ve called him a fool.

The hall wasn’t much different than the backrooms of any other job he’d worked at. There were typical signs that told people about their employment rights and their benefits and schedules. He didn’t care for all the official mumbo jumbo and skirted his eyes down the hall where a small table and some playing cards were tossed about like it had been abandoned quickly. Or maybe the two players had fought over cheating? Who knows? Luffy didn’t. 

He took another gulp of slush and discovered feet sticking out from under the table. His whole world stopped for a moment, and he stopped drinking mid-sip. Luffy made a silent plea to any god out there to not let this be what every goddamn horror movie led him to believe it was. Please be just shoes. Or maybe someone taking a nap. Or maybe someone pretending. Or maybe nothing but his imagination. 

And with a couple steps towards the table, he was mortified to find all of his prayers unanswered and sticking their metaphorical middle fingers up at him.

There lay a man he had seen many times on the floor. 

With a chunk of flesh missing from his arm and a deep gash in his shoulder. 

The man smelled. Luffy regretted bringing his suicide icee into the back room and set it down on the table, closing his eyes and keeping his breathing regular so he wouldn’t dry heave the nothingness in his stomach. He already vomited this morning and he didn’t plan on doing it again if he could help it. 

The old man stared endlessly at the ceiling, mouth agape in a silent cry for help. His body was stiff and a pool of...a mysterious liquid collected beneath him. It took everything in his power to not lose the control over his stomach. 

This man had been kind to him. He would always smile and wave at the boys when they came in and bought their usuals. Beer, jerky, cashews, watermelon iced tea, sour patch kids, and a jumbo dog. He knew. They knew. They would make a game of it. Luffy would start and smile at the man and say, “hey there old guy! I know it’s different than last time, but I bet you I can give you the right price for it!” and the old man would cross his arms and pretend to not be amused by his antics, “I don’t think you can!” he would reply. Zoro would start to procure the money that they needed to pay for their stuff and Luffy would rattle off the memorized number and the man would gasp dramatically and give them a lollipop from the rack. “I’m impressed, Luffy,” the old man would say as he handed the boy the free item, “that was exact.” And Luffy would grin and laugh while Zoro forked over the money and paid for it all. 

Woop would smile and wave as the boys left with their goodies. 

And now he no longer smiled. Woop’s eyes were open and wide with no luster or shine to be seen. Never again would Luffy play this game with him. Never again would he scold Luffy for trying to sneak out a chocolate bar. Never again would he _anything_. 

  
Because he was laying there. On the dirty floor. Chunks missing from his body like a destroyed puzzle piece. 

Luffy felt hot tears burn his eyes. 

And then he heard the noise again. 

The tears were quick to stop as the fear took over and froze him solid. 

He hadn’t moved a muscle in what felt like hours when a body crawled from behind a door. It moaned and pulled itself with all of its upper body strength across the ground and towards Woop’s corpse. 

The grip around his bat tightened. 

The body looked up at him, meeting his eyes. 

“...he...e...nnnmm….uhhh..” it gurgled, leaning over the corpse with its mouth grotesquely skewed open. 

Luffy didn’t realize he had swung the bat until the thing was lying on its side and the metal bat had already connected to the thing’s ribs. It cried out in pain and curled up, coughing up blood. 

“Oh fuck!” He gulped, pulling the mask back down over his mouth. The thing had looked more alive at that moment than in the one previous. 

“Ahh….nnm…..jyi...hmm...nn…” it croaked, reaching a hand out to Luffy. 

And he had no clue what to do with it. The thing still had the brains to speak, which wasn’t the case for the lady before, and that only meant one thing: the _thing_ must still be a person. 

Luffy knelt down, bat still gripped in both hands. The person looked at him, his face contorted in anguish and agony as he coughed and twitched. The man was no older than Luffy, and he could tell just from the look on the boy’s face that he must’ve just gone out in the sun for a long time as there was a deep red burn across his tanned cheeks. There was a little mole by his left eye and a scar ran along his chin. His nails were well taken care of, yet covered in red. Shaggy brown hair puffed up irregularly on the crown of his head and whatever fell on his forehead was matted and caked with dried blood. The boy wore what looked to be a comfy set of work clothes and a pin on the breast of his shirt must’ve had his name on it before it was warped with liquid. 

“Hhhhlll….ppp….eeeee…” the boy’s chest rattled, gore dripping down his chin. 

He gulped, “w...what’s wrong?” and the boy answered by groaning and shuttering out a hollow breath.

Luffy shook his head, “I’m sorry, man...I don’t know what that means...a...are you...y’know...sick?” 

From the looks of it, Luffy could tell that he was either sick or dying. Not that he had seen many dead people nor horrifically sick people, he knew that _something_ was wrong. He looked like that woman. 

“H...halff...ss...ss…” the boy gurgled, clutching his own throat like a thirsty man.

“...half sick? You’re like halfises?? You want a ham sandwich?? What is it?” Luffy tried with his normal way of dealing with things that made no sense: humor. It was obviously a deflection, but nonetheless, he was unable to come to a conclusion. 

“Home…” The boy sobbed, a longing in his tone. It was a request for someone to take him home. It was the way the “o” sound broke and warbled that let Luffy know he was begging him. But what could he do? 

“Did you...kill Mr. Gas Station guy?” 

The question had to be asked even though Luffy didn’t really want to know the answer. It was the elephant in the room and it was certainly a looming one. He stared at the boy for a few minutes while he made incoherent noises and reached for Luffy.

“H..ungry….” Luffy managed to understand. 

Heat flooded his system. Dark pupils shrank. His pulse began to race.

“You ate him…” Luffy whispered. It looked like the words physically pained the boy to hear as it flinched harshly. 

“...hhhh….lf…..sss….kkk…” The boy tried again, tears dropping audibly on the floor. 

“Look, halfise...Mr. Gas Station Guy was a good guy. And you ate him. You did that. What the fuck is happening to you! What’s going on here _?_ Why can’t you talk! Why did you do that!” Luffy didn’t expect the words to come out quite so volatile, but he couldn’t help it. On the floor right to the side of them was the smelling rotting corpse of Woop the gas station attendant that had been so kind to him.

“...f...lu…...h...home...ls...s...ss…” the boy tried again, but Luffy didn’t want to hear a response to his questions if he had to piece every two syllables together in his head. He was much more of a strike first ask questions later kinda guy. The bat glistened in the light.

“How could you!!” The anger had fully flushed through his entire body and stuck to every single blood cell, feeding him with nothing but pure hot hatred. The disease had taken away his freedom, his friends, his fun, _and_ his family. And now it seemed to be taking even the small things away from him.

Why had it taken everything from him without asking permission first? Why did he have to suffer this way?

He felt a hand on his shoulder.

  
  


The bat swished through the air and almost collided into his friend’s side as Zoro jumped out of the way and yelped. Luffy gasped and threw the bat out of shock. 

“Oi, oi..” Zoro wiped the back of his hand across his forehead to flick sweat off his brow. 

The other man appeared with his semi-bag full of goodies and clothes, a hand stuffed into his pockets casually.

Luffy double checked to make sure he hadn’t hit his friend and then gestured to the kid on the floor, barely containing his anger, “halfsie here ate Mr. Gas Station guy.”

“Halfsie?” Zoro raised a brow, sinking his other hand into his pocket.

“Well. It looks like he’s halfway between whatever the sad lady was and whatever a sick person is. He’s kinda..halfsie…” 

The two boys made eye contact and then looked at the guy on the floor.

“It stinks,” the green-haired man observed, scrunching his nose. 

“Halfsie is half monster, so... I can’t imagine they shower.”

“You think you’re funny, huh?” 

“Only on Tuesdays,” the younger of the two shrugged. 

“It’s Wednesday,” the other added.

“Fuck.”

Zoro watched as the gargling boy on the floor moved towards Woop again, it sniffed and drooled viscous slobber over the corpse.

“That’s just fuckin’ nasty, man. I mean...c’mon…” Zoro groaned and shook his head, “What should we do with it?”

Luffy picked up his bat, pointing the end at the boy on the floor, “should we put it out of its misery?” 

“Jesus, dude! I don’t wanna fuckin’ kill the guy. What if he’s just sick?” 

“It killed Mr. Gas Station Attendant!”

“So we’re supposed to kill him instead? He’s not even interested in us.”

“So we just let him go?”

“What the fuck is wrong with you man? You gunna _murder_ this kid? Really, Luffy?” The man’s voice changed into something of disgust, and it physically pained Luffy to hear his friend regard him with it. 

The rage subsided as he realized what he had just said. He had really just suggested they murder this very obviously sick guy. Zoro had looked at him like he wasn’t someone he recognized. And that is what made him calm down. The heat had to go if he wanted to stay himself. To continue to be someone Ace would be proud of. 

Hesitantly, Luffy loosened his grip on the bat, shoulders slumping in shame. 

Luffy looked at his best friend, “...let’s just…go…” 

Zoro set his hand on Luffy’s shoulder, “Hey man...it’s alright...you’re just freakin’ me out...I know... _he’s_ not here, but I don’t think he’d be too pleased to see you acting like this because of him...y’know?”

It took all of Luffy’s strength to not immediately come crashing to his knees and break down again. He reached up to touch Zoro’s hand in a silent move of gratitude for his words and his friendship. He didn’t need to say anything in order for his friend to understand his sorrows. That’s just how friends work. 

Zoro was always there to ground him. Back in school, after graduation, in college, and just in general, if Luffy was out of line, Zoro was the voice of reason that kept him from becoming someone he couldn’t be proud of. If Ace and Sabo weren’t teaching him, then it was his best friend that was making his boundaries for him. Zoro might’ve gone along with all of his chaotic behavior, but he was quick to let him know when it crossed the line into dangerous and unsavory actions. And for that, he was grateful. Grateful for having Zoro with him during this time. If he had all his friends, he would be better. Hopefully, when they saw Sanji, things would feel more complete; less like the world was going to fall apart under his shoes and vacuum him into the void. When they get in touch and finally find where Nami was, he could say that he would be able to finally voice his anguish properly and find some relief. But until then, Zoro would keep him on his path. Until then, Zoro would be his guidance during this unsettling time.

“C…..are……..ful…”

Both men turned to look down at the boy on the floor, mouth clenched down on Woop’s arm. They both grimaced at the sight. The boy released the appendage and chewed slowly, staring them down. 

“Hhhn….wor….se...us…..ou...there…..” The boy mumbled, licking his chops of the gore that spilled down his chin.

Zoro took the bat from Luffy, silently exchanging a vow of “I’ll take care of this if need be” and stood in front of his friend.

“What do you know,” he demanded, glaring down at the boy.

The boy flinched and chewed slower, cautiously observing the two boys. He started to twitch and fidget, head tilting rapidly to each side sporadically. His breath became labored and arrhythmic as his chest caved in. The expression on his face became contorted with pain and Zoro pushed Luffy back.. 

“.r...raven...us..--HhHELp...hhheh…..elll….hhhhell…..p…” the boy reached out, twitching and shaking. He pleaded with every last bit of strength he had until he jerked his arm into his chest and writhed on the floor, pushing his face into the tiled floors as he cried out. 

The two men watched in horror as the boy wormed around on the ground, making inhuman noises and contorting in ways the body shouldn’t move. He floundered like that for a few minutes as both boys stood shocked, unable to move.

And then it stopped. The boy didn’t move.

Luffy let out a breath he didn’t know he was holding in, not daring to take his eyes off the boy. He reached to tug on Zoro’s shirt, silently pleading for them to go. To be away from this mortifying scene. The dead boy lay prone on the floor, face down in the tile. 

And then it twitched. The boys jumped, and Zoro held the bat tightly in his hands.

“...Zoro….please...let’s--

He didn’t have time to finish his thought as the boy came to his feet and darted towards them, jaw wide. 

For a moment, time froze still. Luffy’s hand went up to cover his face and Zoro reeled the bat behind his head. The boy had a terrifyingly violent look in his eyes. There was something deeply ravenous about the hunger in them. They were drawn small like slits and the whites were a dark red as if the blood vessels were popped. The boy drooled and unhinged his jaw like a snake ready to devour its prey whole. 

And when time decided to start again, Zoro unleashed the metal club and cracked it against the boy’s temple, knocking him into the wall with a sickening noise of breaking bone. Blood exploded from the boy’s mouth, spraying out near the men and over the floor. The body hit the floor with a thud and pooled gore beneath him. 

Zoro panted and stared wide-eyed at the now corpse on the floor, white-knuckling the handle. Luffy was a few feet behind his friend, hand covering his masked mouth. A few drops of blood were on his cheek and he was ghost white.

The other man smudged the blood on his forehead with his sleeve and handed the bat back to Luffy. 

“C’mon. Let’s go.”

He dragged his friend out of the backroom, picked up the abandoned bag by the bathroom, and walked out of the gas station.

Luffy stumbled as he was pulled behind his friend, eyes tracing where the body of the boy lay still even behind walls and space. They walked for a while like that. One stumbling behind the other in silence and horror over what had just transpired. 

Seconds turned to minutes. 

Minutes turned to hours.

They passed many stores this way. 

The pavement seemed to drag on forever. The street’s names seemed to twist and distort under Zoro’s gaze as he tried to figure out the best way to get to the Baratie. 

On a good day, this would be a difficult task for the older boy. He relied heavily on GPS to get himself to where he needed to go. And now, with his mind still reeling and his hand still dragging Luffy through the area, he was having more of a hard time trying to figure out where to go.

His feet took both of them past abandoned cars and cafes. Garbage cans stood in the gutters of some of the residential houses as they moved out of the downtown district and into neighborhoods of the middle/upper class. It was Wednesday, after all. Garbage day. No trucks bustled by and stopped with a puff of air to pick up the spoiled waste and boxes that once held luxury goods. They stood as a reminder that things were different. That things weren’t as they were just a day before. People were going to go about their regular days today. Some must’ve been ready to go to work or to take their children to school. He wondered what they were doing now.

The amount of abandoned secondary cars in the driveways of these houses reminded them of the luxury neither man could afford. Neither man had a vehicle of their own. They simply didn't make enough money or could justify having one. Most people took their most reliable and sturdy car to escape the town’s boundaries and left their pretty yet inconvenient cars behind. The men passed a couple of luxury sports cars as they trekked through the suburbia. 

A cat sat in the street, licking its paw. It didn’t turn to watch the boys go. It minded its business. Surely the cat’s day wasn’t ruined by the evacuation. Perhaps food was more likely to come by as people weren’t shooing it away from their garbage cans. 

Maybe this was a good day for the cat.

Neither man could relate.

The blood dried on each other’s faces. The guilt sitting heavy in their stomachs. Luffy’s shoulders felt immensely weighted. He imagined Atlas must’ve felt like this too.

The weight of the world on your own shoulders. 

The weight of murder on your conscience. 

“Zoro…” came a weak voice, and he hadn’t realized it was his until he felt the dryness of his own throat. 

Zoro didn’t answer, he just kept walking. 

After another moment of silence, he tried again. 

“...Zoro…”

And the other man finally stopped. He turned to look at Luffy. 

“...I won’t say anything...if you don’t…” Luffy whispered.

Zoro gulped audibly, taking his bandana off his head and wiping away the blood from Luffy’s face. He paid careful attention to not rub the scar under Luffy’s eye too harshly lest he hurt his friend. And Luffy stared up at him with big eyes, pleading for his friend to say something-- anything back to him. He didn’t say anything as he scrubbed the dried blood off before scrubbing his own, pocketing the soiled cloth afterwards. 

And then he turned and continued to walk, eyes cast in front of him as his feet carried him towards the Baratie. 

It took them two more hours to make it to the harbor. They’d gotten lost a few times along the way. Neither man had been in this area for longer than they needed, so when the streets ended in courts or dead ends, they had to find the main road again and continue heading north. Thankfully, Luffy generally had an idea of where the Baratie was, as he had been a delivery driver for their restaurant before the restrictions came down upon the town as the flu rolled in. This wasn’t an area that he visited often, but he had made a handful of trips this far out from the floating eatery. 

The sound of the ocean lapping at the harbor was what really alerted the boys to their nearing destination. Seagulls fluttered above streetlights and made nests atop buildings that lined the shoreline. It was a welcome sound--a thing that neither boy thought they’d ever think. Gulls crying usually went down as one of the more irritating and infuriating sounds on a list of sounds to hate, but in all their silence, they were glad for the comforting sound of life. 

They hadn’t seen anyone on their trek up, and the silence was starting to become the most overwhelming sound of them all. 

Luffy grabbed Zoro's shirt again, getting the other man to stop. 

“Zoro…” he tried, making himself walk in front of the other to make sure there was eye contact between them. Even if Zoro didn’t talk, he knew his eyes would reveal everything.

In those steel eyes he found anguish and harrowing guilt. His brow was furrowed and pinched as if concentrating was unspeakably painful to do. He couldn’t see Zoro’s mouth, but he could tell from the scrunch in his eyes that he was grimacing. Maybe even biting his lip to keep himself from talking. 

Luffy had seen that look before. The silencing that Zoro did to himself when he was grieving. Like he was supposed to shoulder it all on his own. As if that was something Zoro should keep to himself instead of letting his friend share it. 

Luffy reached up to touch the pads of his fingers to his friend’s face, bringing the man out of his head and back to the real world. 

“Luffy…” he breathed out, voice hoarse. 

They stood there, unable to say anything even though they felt like they needed to exchange something. Although Luffy had said something first, he couldn’t find it in himself to say anything anymore. He instead pulled his friend close and hugged him. 

The embrace had more intent and meaning than anything he could’ve spoken. It was forgiveness. Comfort. Solace. Empathy. A shared understanding.

Luffy knew expressing was hard for the other man to do, and even when he did express his emotions, he knew it was dialed back. Zoro didn’t like to be open with this part of himself. The part that experienced fear and sadness. The part that was vulnerable and bled. Kuina had stitched that part of himself up after she left a gaping hole in it.

But the part of Zoro that hurt was also the part that was the softest. The tenderest.

  
When Luffy needed comfort that his brothers couldn’t give, he would turn to Zoro. Nami gave him the harsh truth and a comfortable hug, but Zoro gave him solace and a place to belong. Like they could both live in the same headspace and pick each other up out of it. And likewise, Zoro depended on Luffy’s emotional support. 

The very few times Zoro brought up Kuina, he had become a wreck. Those moments were always going to be dark spots for him, and Luffy understood that there was nothing he could say to get his friend out of that zone. Instead, he would sit beside the man and listen. What more could he do? Zoro was not a touchy guy. He only tolerated Luffy’s touchiness. It didn’t mean that he liked it, but it was a part of Luffy’s being to be clingy. To touch.

And in this moment, Luffy knew that Zoro was deep in the pits of his memory. Replaying and remembering the sound of the boy hitting the wall. The thud of his body hitting the floor. The thud of Kuina’s body hitting the floor. Falling. Falling. Falling. 

After what felt like an eternity in the comfortable hold, Luffy finally looked up at his friend.

And Zoro couldn’t look away. He couldn’t avert his gaze. Where would he go? He would be lost without Luffy’s guidance. Literally and figuratively. The look in his eyes conveyed the sheer weight of sorrow and shame that he was holding in his mind. 

Somewhere, a gull called. And then he felt the bag on his shoulder. And the cool ocean breeze. And then the warmth of Luffy’s hands holding him in space and time, anchoring him to life.

“...I’m okay,” he murmured, “let’s get to the Baratie…”

And in response, Luffy had smiled up at him. He didn’t need to see his mouth to know there was that handsome smile gracing his lips. He could read Luffy.

So they walked. Luffy right at his side. Keeping the demons at bay with just the radiation of his own persona. Like he always had. 

That’s what was attractive about Luffy. His persevering spirit. The one that had the ability to banish his own trepidation with just a quirk of his lips. It lit a flame inside him that offered a way through the smoke and haze. Straight out of his own head and into the world where people like Luffy exist and are tangible. 

Zoro was thankful for the silence now, able to get the static out of his head that fogged up his ambition. He was grateful for the sound of the ocean, as it lapped assuredly on the stony harbor and offered a repetition that calmed his nerves. The rise and fall of the waves were always going to continue, and that was comforting. The knowledge that once A happens, B comes after was reassuring. Like how regardless of cloud coverage, the sun is always above them. Or how The Titanic always sinks in the movie. Knowing fully that a thing was going to happen regardless was good. It offered comfort. 

And as they finally rounded the corner and found the Baratie in front of them, they let out a sigh of relief. It was about 4 now, and the boys were emotionally tired. 

Together, they crossed over the wooden bridge and led them straight to the restaurant. The salty smell of the endless ocean felt euphoric, and both men were grateful for some of the smaller things in life. 

The door to the Baratie opened and their blonde friend came out with a cigarette dangling from his mouth. 

“Oi. Took you guys long enough. I know we’re far but fuck, man. You know how to keep a man waiting,” Sanji observed, crossing his arms over his chest. 

Luffy felt energy quickly come back into his body as he smiled at seeing his friend safe and sound. 

(Unharmed. Unworrying. Here. Present. Alive.)

“Sanji!” he cried, closing the distance and jumping on the other man with a breathless laugh. Sanji expected this to happen and had braced himself for impact, allowing the boy to latch onto him in a hug. 

It didn’t mean that he had to act like he liked it though. 

Sanji rolled his eyes and patted Luffy’s back, taking a long pull from his cigarette. 

“Yes, yes, hello Luffy,” he sighed, waiting for the boy to detach himself.

And when it took a little longer than Sanji was comfortable with, he peeled the boy off himself. Luffy protested and whined as he was back on his own feet but didn’t push his luck any further.

Zoro narrowed his eyes at the other man, holding onto Luffy’s bat and his bag. When Sanji finally decided to acknowledge that Zoro was there, he gagged and turned his nose up, “fuck, I forgot you brought the idiot with you.”

“Sanji...maybe another time is better for this…” Luffy started, but Zoro spoke up for himself.

“You been inhalin’ too much fuckin’ smoke shitty cook if you think I wanna be anywhere near your dumb ass. I’ve lost at least twenty IQ points just looking at you.”

“Damn, you’re down to just 2 IQ points now,” Sanji tsked, shaking his head. 

“I oughtta put my fist through your fuckin’ hollow head…” Zoro growled, shoving his sleeve up high around his bicep. 

It didn’t faze the blonde who scoffed and tapped his cigarette with a finger uncaringly, “I oughtta kick that shitty lookin’ face of yours before it gets too ugly to stand to look at!”

“Ditzy water imp!” 

“Stupid meathead!”

“Do you wanna throw the fuck down right now?”

“And get your disgusting blood on my shoes?”

“You’re asking for it, shitty cook.”

Luffy rolled his eyes and dragged both men by their ears back into the restaurant, “alright, alright, alright. I get it. You hate each other. But can we just stop the bickering for like two whole seconds so we can get offfa our feet??”

Both men crossed their arms and jutted their chin out, making a “harrrumph” sound. Idiots. 

Luffy took his mask off when they got inside, surprised to find some of the chefs in the main dining area just hanging out like nothing was happening. Some men were relaxing casually on the dining chairs and others were milling about the area. Someone was playing a guitar and another chef was playing the spoons. 

Pattie was playing cards with Carne and Ghin, a concentrated look on his face. Carne squinted at his own and Gjin leaned back casually, uncaring of the outcome of their game. Luffy smiled, waving at them as he dropped both men on the floor. 

The two started to bicker and brush themselves off while Luffy went over to the party playing cards.

Ghin turned and grinned, waving a little, “yo! Luffy! Good to see ya, man. It’s been a while.”

Luffy took a seat beside him, chuckling, “I didn’t know you were staying here!”

“Ah, well, Sanji offered all of our other roommates a spot here but they didn’t want it. I ain’ gotta be anywhere else. I figured, if I had to be anywhere I’d want to be in a place that served good hot food,” he reasoned. 

“Oi, chore boy, you’re interrupting our game!” Pattie swung his fist at Luffy, missing by a hair as the boy ducked. 

“I see you’re in good spirits, Patsy!” Luffy giggled. 

Pattie scowled, raising his fist in the air again, “It’s _PATTIE_ not Patsy!”

“Sorry, Patsy. I don’t care.” he shrugged. 

Carne laughed and pointed at Pattie, teasing him about having a dumb name. 

“Corn, you have no room to talk! Imagine being your mom and waiting nine months to have a baby only to name it _Corn_!” Luffy howled, elbowing Ghin in the side who also chuckled. 

“It’s _CARNE!!_ ” He roared.

The room filled with Luffy’s boisterous laughter. 

Sanji took a seat beside Ghin and snuffed his cigarette out and placed it behind his ear. Zoro came to sit beside Luffy and rested his feet, laying back with his arms behind his head so he could shut his eyes.

“How have you guys been? Have you seen any of the monsters?” The youngest asked, looking at the rest of them. 

“Monsters? No. I haven’t seen any, but then again, I haven’t gone outside in a while,” Pattie shook his head, placing a card down. 

“There’s monsters coming out of the woodworks!! It’s all a government scheme to wipe out the poor! Notice how there’s been absolutely NO homeless people outside? It’s because the government rounded them all up and let aliens test on them! They started the disease on purpose! And then they let the aliens test on human subjects because no one would miss them!” Carne turned his body to look at Luffy, “I’m telling you--and don’t listen to Sanji and Pattie because they think I’m crazy!--but there’s two things I know. The planet is FLAT and the flu is MANMADE. I won’t let any alien probe my ass!!”

Luffy laughed at the man who looked so sincere about this dumb conspiracy. A tear dribbled down his cheek as he fell to pieces at the idea. 

Sanji pointed a finger at Carne, “there you go again spewing your garbage at my friends. Pick up a book and read something that’s been scientifically reviewed, numbskull. The planet is round and the flu is just another disease. People have been spreading it because they’re dumb and careless. It’s just science, man.” 

Carne shook his head and jutted his chin out proudly, “You can disagree with me all you want, but I’m not lying!”

Ghin whistled, setting a couple cards down, “wow. This has been one informative conversation. I am soooooo glad to be here right now listening to this. My brain has finally been expanded with knowledge.”

Luffy wiped the tears of laughter from his face and crossed his legs, “You guys are so funny sometimes!”

Sanji stood, hands in his pockets, “I’ll be back. Luckily, I knew you two would be here about this time and I have some food that’s almost ready.”

Instantly, Luffy drooled, “fooooooooood…”

Ghin raised a finger, “me too?”

“There’s enough for everyone,” Sanji confirmed.

Ghin chuckled, rubbing his stubbly chin before placing another card down. Pattie growled and threw his cards on the table so he could point an accusatory finger at him. 

“You cheated!”

“How could I have cheated? You’re sitting on the complete opposite side of the table!” 

“I don’t know! But you’ve won the last six rounds! That reeks of cheatery!”

Gin grinned smugly, crossing his arms, “play better then!”

“Why I oughtta…” Pattie stood, reeling his arm back to wind up a punch. 

Carne raised his hands, “Pattie! Don’t!”

“Jesus, what’s all this damn racket you fools??”

Everyone looked at the staircase to find Zeff hobbling down them. 

“Old man!” Luffy grinned, waving. 

“Don’t call him that!” both Pattie and Carne whapped Luffy over the head, causing the boy to pout and Ghin to laugh at his pain. Of course, that was until Pattie and Carne whapped Ghin next.

Zeff crossed the room and stood tall amongst the men sitting at the table, arms folded over his chest disapprovingly. 

Ghin and Luffy rubbed their heads, whining softly. Zeff gestured to Luffy. 

“You make it okay over here, boy?”

Luffy tilted his head.

“Unless that’s tomato sauce smudged on your face, I suggest you go and clean yourself off,” Zeff tapped his foot impatiently on the floor.

Luffy touched his face gently and then looked over to Zoro. He looked back towards the old man, “oh...we ran into a couple monsters…”

Zeff raised a brow, “tell us about it after you clean up. It’s not good to have blood all over you. You could get sick.”

Instantly chills ran down his spine at the thought of being sick like the boy in the gas station or the woman sobbing. 

Or Woop dead on the floor.

The youngest shook Zoro awake and got him to his feet so they could clean up. They marched up the spiral staircase, taking their belongings with them as they ascended the flight and landed on the second story of the building. 

Luffy led Zoro down the hallway and into the bathrooms where those that lived on the Baratie bathed and washed up. 

He let their bags fall unceremoniously to the floor and he untied his laces quickly and ripped the shoes off so he could massage his tired feet. Zoro leaned against the sink and took his own mask off to clean it. Luffy stripped down and took a seat inside the shower on the little stool, turning the faucet to the hot side. The instant relief that flooded him when the hot water hit his back was the very definition of pleasure. 

He closed his eyes and leaned forward, letting the water roll down his shoulders and massage his aching muscles. He’d turn the water to cold soon, but right now the heat felt amazing. The bottles of soap by his feet were haphazardly applied to his hair and he scrubbed roughly with his nails on his scalp, trying to dig deep and take the painful memories of the day away. Luffy bit his lip, sinking deeper into his own head.

Once upon a time, Ace and Sabo had done this for him. Had helped him bathe when he was much younger. Sabo emphasized the importance of shampooing first and then conditioning to keep the hair nice. To only shampoo the roots of his hair and condition the ends because of grease and oil or something. Ace emphasized the importance of washing the body because of stinky boy odors or whatever. 

He remembered their faces on the backs of his eyelids. Ace’s freckles. Sabo’s toothy grin. 

It was only then that he felt himself shudder a breath, hot tears in his eyes. He covered his mouth, biting the palm so no one could hear--more specifically, Zoro, who was standing in the same room behind the curtain of the shower. He sobbed silently, a waterfall of tears sliding down his cheeks and down the drain. 

Too much had happened all in one day, and to be frank, he was ready for it to be over so he could curl up in a ball and fall asleep and maybe one day wake up when his brothers decided it was time to. 

He turned the water to the cold side, bracing himself as the temperature dropped and he was left shivering and sober under its spray. The tears ceased. He put his hand back in his lap and let himself freeze. When it became unbearable, he turned it back to lukewarm and continued his shower.

A fresh towel appeared on the floor in front of the shower, and Zoro was sitting on the sink counter stripped down to his briefs, staring at the wall. Luffy pulled the towel around his waist and shook his head of water, gesturing back at the shower with his thumb. 

“It’s free now.”

Zoro hopped down and ruffled Luffy’s hair before disappearing behind the curtain. 

Luffy toweled himself off, pulling fresh clothes on from in his bag. He finger-combed his hair and waited in the same spot that Zoro was in for the other to finish. Luffy didn’t really want to be alone and if he was right, neither did Zoro. He looked through his phone and tried to call Nami. 

He waited for a while with the phone up at his ear and smiled at the sound of her voice mail.

“Hey! It’s Nami! Dunno why you called but I’m not here right now! Luffy, if it’s you, no, I don’t wanna play monopoly. Anyways! If you drop a message I’ll think about calling back!”

And then he tried Ace’s number.

“Yo! Not here at the moment but I don’t listen to voicemails so this is pointless! Leave your name and number if you’re dumb! And if this is Sabo or Luffy, I love you sorry for not answering. Later!”

He tried Ace’s number again. 

“Yo! Not here at the moment but I don’t listen to voicemails so this is pointless! Leave your name and number if you’re dumb! And if this is Sabo or Luffy, I love you sorry for not answering. Later!”

And again.

“Yo! Not here at the moment but I don’t listen to voicemails so this is pointless! Leave your name and number if you’re dumb! And if this is Sabo or Luffy, I love you sorry for not answering. Later!”

He set his phone down, staring at his lock screen longingly. The photo of him and his brothers greeted him. He frowned, touching his thumb to Ace’s smiling face. 

The shower turned off and Zoro stepped out with a towel around his waist and another wrapped around his head. He looked at Luffy.

“You okay?”

“No. You?”

“No.”

Zoro nodded and changed. 

Then he tried Usopp’s number.

“Hey, man! What’s up!........Oh totally, yeah...Mhm! JUST KIDDING! THIS IS A VOICEMAIL! I FOOLED YOU! Leave your dumb name if you have the guts!”

Luffy sighed, putting his phone away. There was no point. No one was going to answer. 

When Luffy looked back at his friend, he was wearing new clean clothes. He didn’t put a shirt on, but that was typical. Luffy showed him the phone, “No one is answering me…”

“I know, man. C’mon. Let’s go downstairs. The shithead’s made food, remember?”

That got Luffy off his ass and on his feet, bolting out of the door and down the stairs to where the group was now sitting at a table eating. 

Sanji looked up and watched the boy almost fall down the steps in his haste. Luffy hopped over the banister towards the bottom and bounced into a chair. 

“Foooooooooooooood!!!!!” 

And for a moment, all was well. It was when he had to explain what had happened that things started to go downhill.

Ghin chewed on some ribs, looking over at Luffy who stuffed food into his face like he would never see a meal again.

“So, you guys saw monsters?”

Luffy’s cheeks were chipmunked full of food and he swallowed it in one go before answering, “well. I saw a lot of crazy things today…”

Sanji leaned on his hand, watching the group enjoy their meals.

“Uhm...well...some lady almost ate my leg. And then when we were coming up here, some guy ate the gas station attendant that worked at the gas station near Zoro’s. And he almost ate us but Zoro hit him with my bat and now we’re here. End of story. Is there more food?” he summarized, reaching for some of the grilled meats.

Zeff stroked his mustache, “Wait a minute.”

And Luffy paused, eyes on the old man.

“What?”

“You’re just gunna glaze over those details?”

“...they’re not very pleasant…” he muttered, taking a sip of water.

Zoro appeared behind Luffy and rested a hand on the chair, “I can tell you.”

They all looked at Zoro expectantly.

“Ew, put a shirt on. No one wants to see all that,” Sanji groaned, covering his mouth like he was going to immediately projectile vomit.

Zoro leaned over and flicked the cigarette out of his mouth before starting to talk.

The entire table was engrossed in the story of their day from Ace’s capture to Woop’s gas station, and although Zoro kept some of the details out, he told them what they needed to know. Luffy ate quietly, trying to find comfort in the meal like he always did. And when he was done eating, he excused himself, going back up the stairs to hide away from everyone. 

The room he knew would be safe to go into was Sanji’s. It was towards the back of the hall near Zeff’s and it was mostly unused since Sanji lived off the Baratie for a couple years until the lockdown. He closed the door behind him and pulled his cellphone out.

It rang.

Ring.

Ring.

  
Ring.

Ring.

Ring.

“Yo! Not here at the moment but I don’t listen to voicemails so this is pointless! Leave your name and number if you’re dumb! And if this is Sabo or Luffy, I love you sorry for not answering. Later!”


	4. Goners.

There was something about the air on the Baratie that felt different than being on the streets. It might have something to do with the fact that there were people on board. The air didn’t seem stale and unused like a tomb; there was life. It felt so clean and good...like it wanted to be breathed in. 

Luffy sat on the back deck of the Baratie with his legs dangling between the railing, sandals set haphazardly beside him. He hugged the wooden posts and looked down at the sea that was currently lapping gently at the sides of the floating restaurant. He took a deep breath of the fresh and cold ocean air.

The breeze rippled the straw hat upon his head, yet stayed secured upon the crown of his hair with a tight knot. Reassurance. 

His coach had given that to him. 

Before the illness that had befallen the town, Luffy had been a baseball player. He loved the sport and had been put in Little League since he was just a little kid. He was on the path to entering the minor league and securing a spot in a major league team. “Was” being the key term here. Now that life was getting out of hand, Luffy felt his future slip through his fingers. How painful to see everything he’d been working for suddenly gone.

Like his brother.

He looked out onto the water.

“Ace...where did you go?”

All he heard was the sound of waves.

“Did you know you were in trouble?”

The boat creaked.

There seemed to be nothing he could do. He was wasting air now. Precious air. 

He opened a fist, watching the calluses on his palm move in return. There was a bittersweet feeling that overtook him. He’d worked hard for those. His hands were worn from time and practice that had accumulated since he had first held a bat in his hands. It was nothing now but a memory. He closed that fist. 

How come everything had been reduced to memories?

Sanji and the rest of the chefs on the Baratie had gotten the ship ready for its departure to the next harbor over. They would be leaving come noon today, and Luffy had no intention of staying on board. He had to get to Pop’s and find out what he knew. Hopefully, Marco had found something since the incident and had something to tell him. There was also Nami and her family to think about. Not to mention Usopp and Kaya. 

If he could get to them and secure Ace’s whereabouts, he could be fine again. There wouldn’t be that nagging and eating feeling in the pit of his stomach that made him queasy and sick. The nightmares could subside. 

As soon as he saw Ace with his own eyes, he could feel whole again. 

But when would that be? Would it be the way he wanted it to be?

He imagined finally finding Ace in some sort of prison cell unharmed and bored. Luffy would put a comically large key into the cell door and unlock it and free his brother, bringing him back into his arms and life in one fell swoop. Ace would laugh and ask “what took so long?” and ruffle his hair and hug him. They would go home and everything would go back to normal. No monsters. No collapse of society as he knew it. Everything would be okay. 

Luffy knew that wasn’t how it was going to be. It was too good. Too perfect for what life had turned into. 

He had to wait. To find out where his beloved brother had gone.

(Was he alive?)

(Was he okay?)

(Did they kill him?)

(Why would they do this to him?)

Luffy knew his brother better than anyone--not including Sabo. Ace was polite and fun and strong and sometimes he was angry, but he was his older brother and he loved him nonetheless. He had protected Luffy more times than he could count. He was a hard worker and worked awful hours to pay for their apartment. Both he and Sabo were hard workers. Sabo was off at school trying to be smart to protect people and change the world. Ace had worked a couple jobs to keep their heads above water. Luffy had worked between practice and made some money from sponsors. They all funneled their money to Ace who was the keeper of their money and their resources. He was the head of the household. He had been the eldest brother since forever.

Luffy remembered when Ace had gotten his first job at 14 working for under the table money at some construction company doing paperwork hidden away in a little office. Luffy was only eleven, but he remembered Ace coming home and joining the brothers in their shared room tired out beyond belief. He never had trouble falling asleep to begin with, but the first couple weeks that he had work, he had been especially tired. Sabo had gotten a job very shortly after to try to compete with him. Luffy didn’t understand at the time, but he understood now. After paying bills and maintaining rent and order in the home without Sabo, he and Ace had known what struggling meant. 

Hopefully, with his career in baseball beginning to take off, he would’ve been able to take the workload off of his brother. 

There was no point in thinking about it now. Ace was gone and baseball seemed to dissipate into the past. 

With the flu and the monsters, there was no guarantee that they’d be seeing normal life ever again. How would he live knowing that he’d almost murdered someone? That the only reason why he didn’t was because Zoro had stepped in and taken that for him? 

How was Zoro going to bear all that?

The guy was hard to crack. Even with knowing him for so long and getting to see the softer side of the guy, he was still very hesitant to let anyone in. 

He wished he could understand what Zoro must’ve felt like at that moment. Would he be able to knock someone down for someone else? Would he be able to step up to the plate like Zoro had? If it was to save his friends and family, he would have to.

Zoro had taken the bat from his own hands and taken a hard swing at the monster and killed it. 

He hoped he killed it. The poor thing was miserable.

Luffy had flinched as he heard the sound of the boy’s head hitting the bat and then the wall and then the body falling to the floor. It was heavy. Like dead weight. Not only dead weight, but the weight of guilt hitting hard in his head. 

He would’ve covered his ears if it had occurred in a movie. He hated hearing the grizzly sounds of death even in movies. Law had loved those. The bastard would’ve eaten candy and watched gorey movies without a care. Bastard.

Luffy kicked his feet, his toes cold and tingly from the spray of salty seas. The vast ocean that was in front of him seemed like an escape. Like he could put a boat in the water and sail away from his troubles and live freely. To flee to places uncharted and create adventures that had nothing to do with this hurricane of awful.

A gull called from above and settled atop the Baratie’s roof, looking around. Luffy closed his eyes.

The calmness of the moment--even with the chaos in his mind--felt good. 

The breeze was cold. The spray was too--it smelled like salt and the sun felt warm. He was on that boat he wished he could’ve been on. He was free and the future was bright and nothing was wrong. 

In moments like these, he could breathe and feel okay. 

(Free. Light. Warm.)

It was when he opened his eyes and remembered where he was and why that he couldn't feel good anymore.

Eventually, he’d have to come back to his senses. He’d have to put his sandals on and go inside. Tell his friends that he was going to go find Ace and he’d have to trade those comfy flip flops for cleats and brave the world again. 

Everything nice comes to an end, right? Whether we want it to or not? With absolutely no say in what happens? It seemed that regardless of whether or not Luffy was ready to face the world again, he would have to. He’d have to pull his big boy pants on and force himself to take on so much. 

He groaned and got up. He put his sandals back on his feet and headed back inside the Baratie. 

The backdoor led him into the kitchen where currently there was a big pot of stew boiling audibly on a burner. Sanji was leaning against the work table, cell phone in his hand. There was a cigarette behind his ear and his arms were crossed as he stared absently at the pot. He seemed to be in a completely different world. 

Luffy watched for a moment before Sanji noticed him and waved a little. Luffy headed out of the kitchen and into the main room where the rest of the chefs were. Pattie and Carne were nowhere to be seen and Ghin was sitting at a table with a book. He stood before Ghin. 

“Oh. Hey. Zoro’s been lookin’ for ya,” Ghin flipped a page. 

“Mm..you know where he is?” 

“Think he’s upstairs.”

There was a quick thanks from his lips before he headed upstairs.

The long hallway that was on the landing for the stairs stretched far enough for a couple rooms to be attached to them. There were a couple tables and some potted plants between each room and along the walls were framed photos of the Baratie’s construction. A picture of Zeff cutting the obnoxious red ribbon for its’ opening, a photo of Zeff and Sanji standing proudly to accept their Michelin star rating, and a group photo with the first round of chefs that were employed at the restaurant. Luffy barely recognized a majority of them, except a little Sanji who stood to the right of Zeff with a tiny chef hat atop his head and a clean apron. He looked proud. Luffy was tempted to reach out to touch the photo but decided against it, lest he knock it off and ruin it. He decided to keep walking. 

At the end of the passage was the master suite where Zeff lived and directly to the right of that room was Sanji’s room where the boys had been sleeping in for the past couple days. Luffy opened the door to Sanji’s room and found his friend sitting on the floor stuffing a shirt into his bag.

Zoro tsked, “Where have you been?”

“Outside,” he replied, sitting on the floor beside him.

“I got in touch with Usopp,” he gestured to his phone.

“What?? How? When???” 

“Not too long ago. He said he’s having trouble getting in touch with Kaya and that his tire’s flat and the engine light is on. He said he’s been trying to get out of the house to get to her but he can’t get far because of the sickos,” Zoro summarized, pulling his bag close to him to zip it up. “He’s asked us to come and help him get Kaya.”

Luffy looked at him, unsure of what to do. He whispered, “I have to find Ace…”

Apparently Zoro had expected him to say that, as his response came more as a calculated answer than frustration, “we don’t even know where Ace is, Luf. I know you want to save him, but we have no lead. Marco ran and we haven’t even heard from him or Newgate. We’ve heard from Usopp and we still don’t know where Nami is. The only logical answer is to get to Usopp because we know where he is and then we can figure out where Ace is from there. Hopefully we’ll find Nami already, but we do know where _one_ person is.”

Luffy rubbed his hands nervously, “...that makes sense...but…”

“I know, Luf…” Zoro set his hand on his shoulder, “I know you want to find Ace. But think about it. If there’s more people, there’s a better chance that we’ll survive long enough to find him. This is all so we can get to your brother. He’ll be okay long enough for us to get our friends so we can get him, yeah?”

It didn’t feel right. Luffy didn’t feel like himself. Here he was, not wanting to find his friends so he could get his brother. _(Selfish. Selfish. Selfish.)_ He didn’t even feel like helping Usopp. He didn’t feel like he could care about him. He was fine. He was alive! And that’s more than he could say for Ace. He had not one fucking clue as to Ace’s whereabouts and they knew Usopp was fine. It hurt to think this way. This was truly not like him. If it had been anyone but his brothers that he had to think of first, he would’ve always gone with saving his friends before anything. 

God, Ace would beat him over the head if he knew Luffy was acting this way. Fuck, he’d probably bust his ass for even _thinking_ of putting him before his friends.

Apparently he’d been quiet for longer than he’d thought, as Zoro had moved to shake him out of his head. 

“Hey. Luffy. Hey. C’mon. Snap out of it…”

He blinked and untensed his shoulders. Luffy had curled slightly in on himself, cradling his arms to his chest. When had he become so wimpy? Fuck! Ace would be so mad at him for this. 

Luffy felt his eyes burn and rubbed them roughly to hide the water on his cheeks. 

“Hey…it’s okay…” Zoro said softly, touching the other’s arm. 

“Fuck, man...why can’t I just stop being so fucking weak? Why can’t I stop crying? I can’t...I can’t get out of my own fucking head…” he croaked, shaking the hand off of him so he could pull his knees to his chest and hide his face.

He felt so small. He wanted to hide. 

_ (Ace? Where are you? You can’t leave me.) _

“Luffy...if you want me to go away...just say so. I don’t want to--”

“Don’t...just...shut up…” he whimpered.

The other man sighed and leaned his back against the bed frame as Luffy rocked himself softly. 

Zoro felt pity for him. There had been a point in his life where he also felt like that. And truly, sometimes he felt like that nowadays. Grief and anger had been a mental state that he’d indulged in when no one was around. Since there had been many moments where he’d been alone during the shutdown, he’d allowed himself to sink deep into his head with anguish. 

Kuina’s birthday had been last month, and he’d spent that day alone with some liquor he kept in the cabinet for the occasion. He’d drunk himself stupid and passed out on the couch in his boxers around noon. When he had woken up around 2 in the morning, he fed himself microwaved bagel bites and some old string cheese from the bottom of his fridge before downing some Advil and going back to bed. He’d had some low points with his misery, but Kuina’s birthday and the anniversary of her death were the worst. He knew where Luffy was at at the moment. Sometimes it felt good to just sit in that pain. Absorb it and let it harden you. But he didn’t let him sit there for long, and after a few minutes he scooted over beside him and nudged him gently.

“Hey...you think the idiot’s made something to eat?” Zoro tried.

Luffy picked his head up and wiped his eyes, “...”

“Should we head out after we eat?”

The younger man rubbed his face and nodded a little, “we’ll go get Usopp and Kaya first…”

“You sure?”

“...Ace would want that…” Luffy nodded.

“Alright, cap’n...c’mon…” he stood and grabbed his bag, reaching a hand down for Luffy. It took a moment for Luffy to pull himself together before he pulled himself up and nodded a silent thanks to his friend for getting him out of his head. Zoro left first, heading out of the room and down to the main dining room with his things. Luffy gathered his belongings and stuffed his sandals into the bag and replaced them with his cleats. 

He took his time coming down the stairs, trying to piece himself together in order to make an appearance to everyone in the restaurant. Sanji was presumably still in the kitchen and Zoro was talking to Ghin; everyone still seemed to be unaware of how awful he felt. He had to swallow that all first. There were people to save and things to be done before he could truly come apart. 

Ghin waved him over and stood when Luffy approached him, “hey, Zoro was telling me you were going to head out soon?” 

Luffy nodded, “yeah...Usopp needs our help. You gunna stay here on the Baratie?”

Ghin looked back towards the kitchen and then back at Luffy, “I dunno. I didn’t have many plans. But I think I might stay. It depends, really.”

“On what?”

He shrugged, “I guess if Sanji goes or not.”

“Ah...he still hasn’t decided,” Luffy nodded, looking towards the kitchen. He imagined Sanji was in the same spot as he had been when he walked back inside, eyes far away yet staring straight at the boiling pot of stew. 

“He keeps calling Nami when he has the chance,” Ghin frowned softly, pity in his eyes. It was true though, Sanji had been calling Nami and Nojiko whenever he could to see if they were alright. He would stay up all night with his phone right by his face so he could hear if they finally called back right away. 

Sabo had called him fairly often, and every time the screen lit up and it wasn’t Ace’s name, he felt weirdly disappointed. It wasn’t that he wasn’t glad Sabo was safe and able to call, but it was that he just wasn’t Ace. Sabo was safe and Ace wasn’t. Sabo could call and Ace hasn’t. 

_ (Ace? Where did you go?) _

Just where the fuck was Marco? Why had he run off like that? Was he looking for Luffy and Zoro since they weren’t back at the apartment now? Did he think they were dead? Why hadn’t he ever gotten Marco’s phone number? 

“Luffy?”

The youngest of the three blinked, “mm?”   
  


Ghin gestured to him, “you just stopped answering me, man. You’ve got this like.... thousand-yard stare thing goin’ on. You alright?”

“Yeah. Sorry, I was just thinking of how long it’ll take to get to Usopp’s by foot. We should get there around nightfall if we leave after lunch,” Luffy rubbed his chin and looked to Zoro, “You think we’ll get there before it gets too dark?”

The green-haired man shrugged, “I dunno. Look it up on GPS. It’s not like we have cars to deal with or like...traffic lights…I dunno, man.”

“Hm...well, I think we’ll be okay,” Luffy concluded and popped his knuckles, “all we have to do is eat and get Sanji ready to go.”

“That’s if he wants to go,” Ghin shrugged, “Look, I’ve lived with the guy for a while, he’s not going to want to do anything except look for Nami.”

“I guess we’ll have to find out,” Luffy looked back towards the kitchen.

“If he doesn’t, we’ll be better off. He’ll only get in the way,” Zoro added and closed his eyes, leaning heavily against the back of the chair, “he’s just gunna deter us from where we need to go. How is he going to be able to take out a female monster if we’re in trouble? He’s not. He’s gunna stand there like the loser that he is and let her eat him--fuck, he may even enjoy it. I say we go by ourselves, Luffy. You and I can handle it together.”

Luffy eyed his friend, unsure of how to unpack everything he said, “mmm….uh...well...I guess we’ll cross that bridge when we get there, then.”

Ghin whistled to break the weird tension in the room, “well. Since you two are for sure going, have either of you been listening to any radio channels to see if you can pick up any information on the sick people?”

“Uhhhhhh…” was all Luffy could say, suddenly feeling foolish.

The other man snorted a laugh, “well, since you haven’t, it’s lucky for you that I did. Take a seat, I’m sure Sanji is almost done in there and you guys will be on your way soon enough.”

Luffy nodded and took a seat as instructed before Ghin started talking, pulling his phone out. 

“Okay, I know this is going to be a lot of information I’m going to lay out. If you need me to stop, let me know, okay?”

The two boys nodded before Ghin spoke again.

“So, apparently, what a majority of people are calling the sick people are ‘goners.’ They’re completely different from the people that they used to be. One guy said that his wife no longer recognized him and that he had to put her down in order to escape safely with his children. Essentially, these guys aren’t people anymore. They’re dangerous and contagious. You absolutely _have_ to keep some sort of apparatus over your nose and mouth at all times when coming into contact with them. I’ve heard it’s better if you skip going near them if at all possible.

“Now, there’s two different categories that people have been separating the Goners into: normal and altered. Normal Goners are known as ‘biters’, ‘sobbers’, and ‘the ruthless.’ Biters are apparently extremely fast and extremely hungry. Their jaws are completely fucked up and they seem to chatter their teeth. On a funny note, some people also call them ‘yakkity yaks’, so look out for that name too. I think you said you ran into a lady that you said was crying, right? But she also did the teeth chattering thing like a biter? Apparently those are being called ‘sorrows’. They’re a special type of Goner. They’re like a fusion between a biter and a sobber. A sobber is just a goner that is real mangled and fucked up. They cry endlessly.

“Now, the last type that people have been seeing are called ‘the ruthless,’ and according to anyone who has come across one, they’re extremely fucking dangerous. People have been seeing them eating anything moving. Animals, garbage, other goners, people; you name it. Some have suggested that they hear really well while others are speculating that they smell really well. I don’t know, so be careful if you see one,” Ghin took a breath and looked between the two other men, “and lastly, you have to really be extra careful for the altered goners. They’re supposedly hybrids of normal goners and some entirely different ones. Right now, there’s only two types that have names. They’re called ‘crazies’ and ‘the ruthless’ as I mentioned before. The Crazies are biters on crack. Just be careful. There’s still more that people are discovering and reporting about, so I'd keep an ear out for any radio chatter. There’s rumors of blind goners that wander aimlessly. They just sound freaky, so just watch your surroundings,” Ghin concluded, setting his phone atop the table. Zoro snored softly and Luffy was trying to keep all that information in his head. He’d never been good with memorizing things, he was more of a “learn on the go” person. 

“Okay...so just to summarize...biters make the clicky sounds...sobbers are in pain...and the ruthless are scary and should not be fucked with for any reason. The other two goners also shouldn’t be fucked with…” Luffy looked at Ghin for some sort of confirmation--which he got after Ghin nodded. 

“Alright, ya bastards. Stew’s done,” Sanji called from the doorway to the kitchen as he carried out a couple bowls of food for the boys, setting them down gently on the dining table. 

The stew was thick with chunks of pork and vegetables and a creamy stock. Luffy was quick to attack the meal and Ghin was next to eat like his life depended on it, while Zoro felt obligated to wait to eat until the cook had gone away to grab more bowls for the other chefs on the ship. 

As people started to file in and everyone had their bowls, Sanji took a seat beside Ghin and stretched. 

Luffy looked up at the blonde, “so, Sanji. Are you going to come with us? Zoro got in touch with Usopp and we’re goin’ to head there first.”

The blonde raised a curly brow and stared at him with what looked like disgust, “you’re going to go after _Usopp_? And not Nami?”

Luffy swirled his spoon in the air before plunging it into the stew, “well, we know where Usopp is--

“Yeah, and we don’t know where Nami is. And she’s closer than Usopp. Her house is only a thirty minute walk from here,” Sanji countered, “what if she’s in danger and needs help immediately?”   
  


Luffy blinked, “uh. But we told Usopp we were coming for him?”

“I’ll only go if we get to Nami first. Her and her family are the top of my priority list,” Sanji pointed a finger at him.

Zoro cut in before Luffy could respond, “look, we all want to make sure everyone is safe. If Usopp is in danger, we should get to him. Him and Kaya are both in danger--

“I don’t want to talk to you, shit head. I’m talking to Luffy--look, Luffy,” Sanji directed his verbal assault back to him, “you’re looking for Ace. I get it. Family and all. But Nami also has her family and she’s part of our family too. Usopp is clearly safe and he’s made contact with us. This is all good news for us, as we now know one of our pals is safe and sound--but we still don’t know about Nami and her sister and her mom. You of all people should understand why it’s important to get information on people whose whereabouts are unknown, Luf.”

The sound of Ace’s name sent a shiver down his spine, and he let his head hang.

Zoro leaned over the table and put a finger in Sanji’s face, “look, fuckface. You don’t fucking know what you’re talking about and you clearly don’t know what the fuck Luf’s going through, so don’t pretend like you do. And I don’t give a fuck if you come with us or not. You’re lucky Luf--

“Zoro! Knock it off. I can handle myself!” Luffy bristled, turning on Zoro, “now if you both will knock it the fuck off so we can just fucking get _someone!?_ Just one god damn person ?! God I don’t care who it is! Just shut the fuck up! Fuck, I’m so tired of your endless bickering! Just shut it, won’t you?”

Both men recoiled as Luffy yelled at them. Ghin scooted away.

“And don’t fuckin’ bring up my brother. I don’t wanna hear it! Stop bringing him up!” he snarled, turning on the blonde. There was a touch of anguish that seemed to coat his words, and all the men at the table had to pretend not to hear it in order to preserve the young man’s dignity. 

Sanji stood to get on the same playing field as Luffy, “you’ve known Nami since you two were just fuckin’ kids! Do you not care about her? You bastard--

And suddenly both of the boys' heads were knocked in by a rapid-fire of kicks. Zeff stood behind the men and crossed his arms, “will you brats settle down? Jesus Christ, an old man like myself can’t even shit in peace on this boat without you three yackin’ it up over here. Cool your heads, children.”

Sanji tsked and looked away from the others. Zoro watched the floor. Luffy clenched his fists, bowing his head so his hat covered his eyes.

“Listen to you three squabble like little runts. Over what? _And for what_? There isn’t time for division. There’s enough hell going on in this area. You three are grown ass men; act like it!” Zeff barked, watching as the boys all took their time to finally look at each other.

The first to speak up was Sanji. He reached into his pocket for a cigarette and a lighter; taking the time to take a drag before speaking. “Luffy...I didn’t mean to insinuate anythin’...it’s just frustrating... I’m sure you understand….”

Thankfully for him, the straw brim obstructed his face so he didn’t have to look at either of his friends, “we’ll stop by Nami’s first. Zoro, let Usopp know. I’m gunna call Sabo before we leave.”

And with that, Luffy left the dining room with his bowl half empty. His cleats made a very audible clack across the wooden floorboards that echoed harrowingly. Zoro was very aware of the guilt swelling in his gut as his lifeline was slowly crossing the room and leaving him alone with quite possibly his least favorite person. It dawned on him that he had spoken for Luffy instead of backing him up like he normally would have. That instead of being ready to defend him if he needed it, he was willingly putting himself as a block between Luffy and an opposing force without him wanting it. It insinuated that his friend wasn’t strong enough to handle things on his own. That Luffy was weak. That because of Ace’s forceful disappearance, Luffy was a little kid. 

He had known Luffy for a long time, but it wasn’t since childhood. Zoro knew that if something happened to his step-sister, he’d probably be worried, but he didn’t think he’d come crumbling down to his very foundation. It was distressing to become disillusioned to a dear friend’s strength. Had he really placed Luffy so high up on a pedestal that he wasn’t able to see him as a normal person? He didn’t know. But, he did know that he had crossed a line between him and the only person he’d let into life. It was an unforgivable cross, even if it had been a petty squabble. To usurp the power from Luffy in order to win a stupid fucking argument. How foolish. 

If Kuina had gotten taken like that from him, would he be broken the same way?

It would be too soon to mend his wrongdoing to the other man, so he settled for eating the rest of his stew far from the original table (and the infuriating blonde). 

He had to get in touch with Usopp anyways, being that they were going to leave and check Nami’s house first before they went all the way to Syrup where Usopp currently lived. Was it annoying that the blonde got his way? Yes. Would he argue with Luffy again to contest that? No. He didn’t have the heart to trample on Luffy while he was down. 

He had never seen his best friend this distraught before. It was heart wrenching. It was so clearly out of character for him to not finish a meal. To leave a conversation instead of hearing it out to the end. To physically remove himself from an altercation instead of duking it out. Everything felt so wrong and so different from a mere week ago when everything was okay. Zoro felt for Luffy...his poor little heart was probably broken. 

Zoro dared to let his eyes wander to the door that Luffy had left through, hoping that he’d spot a bit of his coarse hair through a window...He wrestled with the desire to reach out for him even if he knew it was a terrible idea. To be with his...comfort person...is that what Luffy was? Certainly his best friend...but…

He allowed himself to dismiss that train of thought and instead focused on the creamy stew. Maybe if Luffy hadn’t come back when Zoro had finished eating, he’d go out and bring him his food...a peace offering of some sort? He would have to wait to see.

* * *

“Luffy, it isn’t your fault...you have to remember that...this isn’t your fault…” Sabo spoke softly into the phone, trying to give his words some backing. 

“I just want to find him...how come you don’t have Marco’s number?”

“I never needed it. If I wanted to get to him, I’d just call Ace. You know he’d always answer…”

The words seemed to weigh his heavy shoulders even more.

“I know…” Luffy breathed, “it’s just...he left without saying anything and didn’t even take us with him…”

“Well, the next time I see Marco, I’ll have to remind him of how much I don’t like that decision…”

“Did you hear back from my dad? Can he get you a flight to the nearest airport?” 

Sabo sighed, “I haven’t heard from him. He seems to be dealing with a lot right now. It’s getting worse for everyone around your area. The next county over also got issued the evac notice. Thankfully, you guys are bordered on the ocean, so it won’t be spreading in the opposite direction either. But you have to be careful, Luf. Iva’s been telling me that they’re hearing rumors of government action that may come your way. They told me that it’s only rumors right now, but their source is pretty solid most of the time.”

Luffy slumped back against the wall of the Baratie, eyes closed. 

“Look, I know you want to look for your friends, but it’s really dangerous out there. My campus has basically stopped classes and they’re looking to board up most of the dorms. Iva’s trying to get me out of here and to their place tomorrow night, so I may not be able to take calls. Just please for the love of god....be safe, Luffy. There’s a lot of chaos going on, and I need to make sure you’re safe. You’re my only little brother…”

“I know, Sabo...I’ll be careful, yeah?...” 

“Thanks, Loofs...I love you. I have to get going, Iva’s been trying to get Bartholomew to come get my stuff.”

“I love you too, Sabo. Be safe,” Luffy crossed his arms over his chest to remind himself of what a goodbye hug felt like.

And then the line went dead and Luffy was left alone with his thoughts.

* * *

It took Luffy a half hour to collect himself enough to go back inside. He spotted Zoro first, who was sitting by the entrance to the Baratie with his bag at his feet. He seemed to be napping at the moment. Sanji was standing outside the door, a couple of cigarette butts were at his feet. A black bag was sitting a couple feet away from him and he had changed into different clothes than his normal chef attire. 

Luffy crossed the dining hall to reach Zoro, but before he could, he was stopped by Ghin. 

“Hey man. I know you guys are leaving, so I wanted to make sure we could stay in contact and that you guys could hear updates on whatever the goners are doing,” Ghin handed him a little yellow walkie talkie, offering him a small smile. “I’m not gunna go with you guys after all...I feel like it’s a little too much for me...but! I can provide information from here. These guys are top notch walkies!”

He blinked, “woah...how’d you get them?”

Ghin grinned slyly, “Carne is a big tin foil hat guy. He’s got a ton of them hidden away for ‘the end of the world.’ I think he forgets that you can easily talk on the same frequency as these walkies with the right device. He may know a lot of bullshit, but his common sense seems to be….how should I put it....lacking?”

It got Luffy to finally let a smile grace his face. He took the walkie and clipped it to his belt loop. Ghin stuffed his hands into his pockets, “be safe, yeah?”

Luffy nodded, “of course. We’ll see you soon.”

Zoro stood suddenly, pulling his bag over his shoulder and then a mask over his face, “c’mon, chief. Let’s get going while it’s still early.”

Luffy waved to Ghin before he joined Zoro and headed outside to grab Sanji. The blonde turned his head at the arrival of the two men and picked up his backpack, exhaling a puff of smoke.

“Y’both ready to go?” he asked, snuffing out the cigarette and resting it behind his ear. 

As uncomfortable as the air was between the three boys, they all had to suck it up in order to get going. Luffy nodded and pulled his cotton mask over his face, bat hanging loosely at his side in a makeshift loophole for easier access. Zoro rolled his neck and popped his wrist before nodding his head and then they started down the rickety wooden bridge back to the town. 

It seemed like the same area that the boys had always been. There was still that salty scent lingering in the air and the crashing of waves on the shoreline, but there was that eerie silence between all of that which reminded them of their current situation.

Luffy’s cleats were the antithesis of sneaky, and both other men were very aware of how loud they were as they crossed the concrete pavement to the sidewalk on the other side of the street. Some of the grocery stores that weren’t barred up were broken into. Glass littered the street and spray paint started to appear on the once perfectly clean building fronts. Boutiques that used to hold expensive fashion were emptied of their contents and either strewn about the street or stolen. 

Sanji poked his head into an abandoned store and was quickly reminded of how awful the world had gotten. 

A deceased woman lay mangled and twisted on the floor. Part of her scalp lay a foot away from her head. Her jaw was busted and dangled from a string of skin. A bird stood upon her face and pecked at the rotting meat. 

He’d only gotten a glimpse, but it was all he needed to be reminded of the grim reality that they had stepped into. It almost felt like the Baratie was a completely different world. That the boys had taken a leap into craziness. Sanji gulped down the lump in his throat and reached habitually for his cigarette to hold between his fingers. 

Luffy didn’t try to breach the silence that surrounded the boys. It was thick and suffocating. No one dared to make any noise. As stifling as it was, it protected each man from having to talk to each other while they were still licking their wounds. Their argument still rang painfully in each man’s head. Guilt started to bite at their stomachs, and as they trekked farther inland to where they couldn’t hear the ocean anymore, they all started to feel their hair stand up on end. 

It was quiet. 

It had always been quiet, but at the very moment, all of the boys were acutely aware of how silent it was. No gulls. No sea. No movement. 

Luffy stopped walking to take a look around and soon both other men fell behind him, staring at their surroundings.

Air stopped whistling through buildings. There was no more crunch of glass from birds trying to walk into stores. In fact, there didn’t seem to be any birds at all. An abandoned homeless tent was tipped over and ripped to shreds with dried blood coating the grass beneath it. 

Everything was still.

The nothingness seemed to rob each man of their ability to breathe. Each gulp of oxygen got caught in their throat and didn’t budge. Sweat beaded at their foreheads.

Luffy gripped his bat and tugged it from the loophole, holding it firmly in his hands upright and poised to strike. He had felt like this before. The feeling of something terrible about to happen. It prickled goosebumps down his back.

It sounded faint, but each man heard a footfall. Heavy. Slow. 

Sanji saw it first. A goner walked out from a store, staring at the sky. He froze instantly at the sight of the person. 

A large man’s neck was craned towards the sky. His mouth fell open and it seemed to be locked in that position. It looked painful, having his jaw like that. The men were mesmerized by the goner’s slow walk into the middle of the street. It didn’t look towards them, but instead, seemed to be fascinated by the endless heaven above it.

When it turned its head, Sanji figured out why. 

Each eye was glazed over and cloudy. The goner seemed to stare at the sun for no apparent reason other than because it was bright. Perhaps he could only see lights. Whatever it was, it didn’t distract him enough to not notice the gore dripping down its chin. Repulsed, Sanji took a cautionary step back and brought a hand up to his mouth to cover it. He gagged and looked over towards Luffy and Zoro who were both holding weapons now. When had Zoro gotten a knife? It looked suspiciously like a kitchen knife, but now was not the time to be reprimanding petty theft; there was a goner right in front of them and he had no intention of letting it know where they were.

Luffy twirled the bat with perfect muscle memory from taking a stand at the batting plate, looking between both Sanji and Zoro to silently tell them to keep walking away. Zoro found his guts and started to tip toe across the street and out of the goner’s sight with Sanji trailing behind him. Only after both men were out of view did Luffy start to follow, taking precise and careful steps with his clunky cleats.

The goner froze when the cleat first touched down on the ground. It sniffed the air and turned its head in Luffy’s direction, clouded eyes boring holes into him; pinning him in his spot.

He let a soft breath escape his lips as the goner eyed him. 

And then it did something incredible. 

  
  


It turned away and walked off. 

Luffy waited until it walked away to head over to where the other men were hiding, trying to minimize all sound he could be making. He set his bat back in the loop and took a deep breath, wiping his forehead of sweat. 

Zoro looked at him, examining his friend to see if any minuscule detail was off or wrong. Satisfied that nothing seemed out of place, he ushered the other two along with a wave of his hand and pulled his phone out to find which turn they needed to go down. 

Sanji tugged at Luffy’s shirt when they had passed a couple more streets, whispering, “hey...what did you do to make that thing go away?”

The boy shrugged, “I have no idea...it either couldn’t see us or it didn’t care…”

The blonde frowned and continued onwards with the rest of his questions to himself. He’d have to ask later when they were safely off the streets.

As the men traveled inland, they had to take to the side of the main highway. It was a more direct route and got them to Nami’s apartment faster, but it certainly was more unsettling to be walking down the central freeway with absolutely no cars passing by. The reality was starting to hit each man’s gut; absolutely no one was just walking around. There was no one. Only a couple cars were on the road, and even then, there was no one inside. 

The boys only walked a couple miles down the side of the freeway until they had to take the ramp up into the overpass and head towards the residential area that Nami and her family lived in. 

It was significantly more wooded than they had been previously as whoever landscaped this part of town had been seeking a cozier and shady aesthetic versus an urban jungle. The boys were glad to get out of the sun and under foliage, as the heat was starting to drench their backs and make their clothing stick uncomfortably so. They passed a couple strip malls and gas stations on the road to the complex, finding each building abandoned and desolate. It was strange to think that these places were already emptied after only a couple of days after the evacuation notice had been given out. It was unpleasant to think that people could up and abandon their livelihoods and luxuries so quickly--even if it was because of the threat of death or illness, it still meant that people could give up their luxurious lifestyles. It also implied that these people were capable of living without them. 

Being reminded that human culture was easily abandoned and unimportant in the grand scheme of things just didn’t sit well with Luffy. It made him feel insignificant and small, and he had already been feeling like garbage. He quickly stopped that train of thought and instead focused on the two men in front of him. 

Hopefully, they would talk when they got to Nami’s. One could only hope…

As they rounded the corner to the apartments, they came upon a bloodbath. 

Cars were overturned and smashed. Dead people lay either crumpled beneath them or twisted up on the concrete. Shattered glass and bullet casings littered the asphalt. Dried pools of blood collected and trailed towards the gutters, leaving the metal looking rusty and stained. All three men gasped at the horrific sight of bloodshed and gore. No one was spared from the cruel scene of chaos. Men, women, children, and animals alike lay still upon the hot street. Bugs buzzed on carcasses and flew around the area in massive quantities. The stench of rotting flesh made each man’s stomach do flips and they recoiled at the pungent odor barraging their noses. 

Sanji was first to walk through, wafting away flies as he looked down at the dead in order to see if any of them were Nami or her family. Zoro was next, and Luffy trailed right on his heels as they waded through the aftermath of whatever had happened. Wave after wave of nausea assaulted the men as they passed through the parking lot and down the path to Nami’s home. 

They had to stop for Luffy who tossed up his lunch in the bushes. He groaned and wiped his mouth and quickly replaced his mask, joining the others after he had gathered himself. Sanji urged them onwards and up to the correct apartment building.

“I’ve got a bad feeling about this…” Zoro whispered, brandishing his pilfered kitchen knife. Sanji knocked on the door and braced himself. 

Everyone held their breath.

And the door creaked open under the weight of the knock, opening the way into the home.

“Nami! Nojiko! Bell-mere!” he called into the room, taking a step inside.

Silence. 

Luffy gulped.

  
  


On the shaggy carpet lay Bell-mere. Dead.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I apologize for the wait. This month has been awful. But! Here is the next installment.
> 
> Safety and Peace.
> 
> -TRDB

**Author's Note:**

> Hello. I haven't written a story in a very long time. I've planned a good chunk of this story already, and I hope that you'll stick around to find out what happens. 
> 
> This will have canon elements and characteristics for characters, but I am going to be tweaking them to make them more realistic and serious when need be. 
> 
> I'll try to keep swearing for conversations, but I find that swearing even in plain writing brings a deeper level of writer/reader interaction. This is how I think. I think in swears sometimes. I hope that doesn't detract from the story. I'll try to limit it as much as possible outside of character interactions. 
> 
> Thank you for reading.
> 
> Safety and Peace.  
> TRDB


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